<figure id="attachment_465171" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1742px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-465171"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1306ebc3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/a45ff009cd44c643bc134cdb3d9a6f50.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-465171" class="wp-caption-text">Suspect Nakaoka was referred to prosecutors on April 9. How did he meet the victim, a middle school girl, on social media?</figcaption></figure>
<h3>How do predators target minors on social media?</h3>
<p><strong>“I won’t do anything, so let’s go.”</strong></p>
<p>The 22-year-old man reportedly said this as he lured the middle school girl into a hotel.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;On April 6, the Kodaira Police Station of the Metropolitan Police Department arrested Ren Nakaoka (22), an office worker, on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse and other charges involving a female junior high school student, Ms. A. Nakaoka is suspected of taking Ms. A, whom he met on social media, to a hotel in Tokyo on March 1 of this year and sexually assaulting her.</strong></p>
<p><strong>The incident came to light after A reported to the Metropolitan Police Department, stating, ‘I was subjected to indecent acts by someone I met on social media.’ Suspect Nakaoka has reportedly admitted to the charges, saying, ‘There is no mistake.’”</strong> (National Newspaper Social Affairs Reporter)</p>
<p>Around 9:00 a.m. on April 9, Nakaoka was transferred to the prosecution. Emerging from the escort exit at the Kodaira Police Station, Nakaoka boarded the escort vehicle with a matter-of-fact gait, guided by police officers and without turning to face the photographers. With his bangs hanging over his eyes, his profile revealed no discernible emotion.</p>
<p>According to the “Status of Juvenile Delinquency and Sexual Abuse of Children in 2025” report released by the National Police Agency in February of this year, the number of child victims involved in sex crimes through social media increased by 80 from the previous year to 1,566. Junior high school students accounted for 758 of these cases, representing nearly half of the total.</p>
<p>How do adult men and junior high school girls come to know each other online?</p>
<p><strong>“They specifically target junior high school girls from the very beginning,”</strong> says a writer specializing in cybercrime. He explains the tactics used by men with sexual interests in minors to target female junior high school students:</p>
<p><strong>“When they post on social media platforms like Instagram, their profiles sometimes include information—such as age and location—that makes it clear they’re a junior high school student living in such-and-such a place. Men targeting female junior high school students search for these profiles and send friend requests to every single one. Most of them are ignored, but some girls actually reply politely, saying things like, ‘I’m a junior high school student, you know?’</strong></p>
<p><strong>Once a friend request is accepted, they’ve got them. They’ll say things like ‘I’d like to talk’ to keep the conversation going and get them to send a photo of their face. Then, at some point, they’ll start persistently demanding, ‘I want to meet you, let’s meet.’ As a result, there are many cases where girls who can’t bring themselves to refuse, or who worry that the man already knows who they are because they’ve sent a photo, end up meeting him without consulting anyone around them and become victims.”</strong></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="They are willing to take risks to fulfill their desires."></div>
<h3>Even if the price to pay is high</h3>
<p data-start="0" data-end="138">It is said that the men often prepare carefully by faking names and ages, or using someone else’s profile photo, but the writer continues:</p>
<p data-start="140" data-end="262"><strong>“With this kind of approach, once they are arrested, they end up paying a heavy price,”</strong> says the writer mentioned earlier.</p>
<p data-start="264" data-end="585"><strong>“Because they confirm the age and the fact that the person is a junior high school student from the beginning, the excuse that ‘I didn’t know she was a minor’ does not hold up. They proceed with the crime knowing full well the victim is underage, so they are charged more severely compared to cases involving adult women.</strong></p>
<p data-start="587" data-end="1055"><strong>Even in so-called ‘papakatsu’ arrangements where money is exchanged for sexual activity, there is at least the appearance of consent. However, if the partner is under 16 and the suspect is five or more years older, it constitutes non-consensual sexual intercourse regardless of consent. If brought to trial, prosecutors would likely describe it as a malicious and despicable act in which money was used to pressure an emotionally immature minor into sexual activity.</strong></p>
<p data-start="1057" data-end="1191"><strong>However, there is no doubt that there are still individuals who take such enormous risks in order to satisfy their distorted desires.”</strong></p>
<p data-start="1193" data-end="1397">What kind of life did the arrested suspect Nakaoka lead? His residence was a roughly 10-man-yen-rent apartment facing a major road, about a 15-minute walk from the nearest station, in a 14-story building.</p>
<p data-start="1399" data-end="1491">When residents of the building were shown a photo of Nakaoka, they responded with confusion:</p>
<p data-start="1493" data-end="1711"><strong>“I only see people at the entrance, so honestly I don’t really know who lives there. When you ask if I recognize this face. I can only say it seems familiar. I don’t know his name, though I think I’ve seen him before.”</strong></p>
<p data-start="1713" data-end="1858">If no settlement is reached with the victim A, and he is indicted for non-consensual sexual intercourse, he is expected to face severe penalties.</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="Photo: The &quot;expressionless&quot; face of Nakaoka, the suspect who was sent to the police station for prosecution."></div>
<figure id="attachment_465170" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 921px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-465170"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cc27a8c3"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/c0f15d6e12f4508414a56cc911cb224e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-465170" class="wp-caption-text">It was impossible to read his expression from that profile shot, with his bangs hanging over his eyes.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_465172" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 966px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-465172"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5df9bdfa"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/ffa23337fea5256574bfc89776aedc7a.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-465172" class="wp-caption-text">He is suspected of luring a middle school girl he met on social media to a hotel and sexually assaulting her.</figcaption></figure>
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<figure id="attachment_465457" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 949px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-465457"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="dccabc0c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/838fbee4f460d40a520282b45f644e62.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-465457" class="wp-caption-text">During questioning, he reportedly admitted to the charges, saying, “That’s correct.”</figcaption></figure>


 Nakahira Ryo

 Shinji Hasuo

 On April 6, a man was arrested for taking a junior high school girl he met on a social networking service to a hotel and sexually assaulting her. How do criminals who target minors get to know each other on social networking sites? We interviewed him to find out how he does it.

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