Former Cabinet Staffer Guilty in ¥4,000 Enjokōsai Case—Court Condemns Predatory Behavior

Gave ¥4,000 to a junior high school girl for compensated dating

“There was a request from B-chan to experience such acts (sexual acts), and I thought, ‘What should I do? This is a crime,’ but the main reason is that I ended up doing what B-chan wanted.”

On May 17, ’24, a verdict was delivered to former Prime Minister’s Office staff member Yukihiro Koizumi (41), who was charged with non-consensual intercourse and violation of the Child Pornography Prohibition Law for giving cash and other items amounting to 4,000 yen to two junior high school students, A-san (12 years old at the time) and B-san (13 years old at the time), and committing sexual assault in a car.

On October 29, at the trial held at the Yokohama District Court, Chief Judge Takuo Sato stated, “Rather than non-consensual intercourse, the crime of non-consensual obscenity is established,” and sentenced him to “four years and six months in prison (with a prosecution demand of seven years).”

The defendant Koizumi admitted to having sexual intercourse with person A on May 17, which is the issue at hand. However, while admitting to indecent acts such as touching the body of person B, he consistently denied any actions constituting sexual assault. In contrast, person B claimed to have been sexually assaulted. The ruling sided with the defendant Koizumi’s account in this regard.

Judge Sato pointed out that the reason for establishing indecent assault rather than non-consensual intercourse, was that person B’s statements during the investigation were vague about the timing of the alleged sexual assault.

“The interactions between the defendant and B have been ongoing since at least around April ’24, and there is a possibility that victim B might have confused the incident with other occasions or made memory errors while being subjected to multiple sexual activities by the defendant.”

Even though non-consensual intercourse on May 17 was not established, defendant Koizumi also admitted to sexually assaulting Ms. B on a different day.

Claimed that it was merely responding to the requests of junior high school girls

After delivering the verdict, Judge Sato explained the reasons for the sentencing as follows:

“The defendant engaged in sexual and indecent acts with A and B, whom he met for so-called ‘papa-katsu’ purposes, and recorded these acts on video. Although there were aspects where the victims themselves demanded money and exhibited behavior permitting indecent acts, the defendant’s actions can be considered a malicious crime that took advantage of the victims’ immature judgment regarding sexual activities.”

Furthermore, considering that a settlement was reached with A’s guardians, who stated, “We do not forgive, but do not wish for criminal punishment,” leniency was granted.

In his final statement, Koizumi stated, as he did at the beginning of the trial, that “the most important thing is that I did what B-chan wanted me to do.” Koizumi claimed that he did not invite the girl himself, but only responded to the junior high school girl’s request.

Additionally, during the trial, there was a statement from the middle school girl saying, “I was told ‘I want to try something sexual,’ and I thought even kids this age are interested in such things, so I responded to the request,” and he asserted, “I am not a pedophile.” He also mentioned, “I didn’t engage in sexual acts with B-san every time; sometimes we just talked while eating snacks in the car and then parted ways.”

However, isn’t there a cognitive distortion in a 40-year-old man frequently contacting a middle school girl and being able to see her as a sexual target?

Unless Koizumi appeals, he will have to serve time in prison. Will he live his prison life thinking, “I only went along with their invitations”?