“Pay With Your Body”—The Dark Reputation of the Man Arrested in the To-Yoko Teen Assault Case

He allegedly took advantage of a middle school girl who was intoxicated by drugs

On June 3, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Juvenile Welfare Division re-arrested Shota Inoue (24), an unemployed man from Minami-Senju (Arakawa Ward), Tokyo, on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse, violating the Act on Punishment of Photography of Sexual Poses (photography), and violating the Act on the Prohibition of Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (production). He is suspected of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old middle school girl he met in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, forcing her to engage in sugar dating and similar activities, and filming the acts.

“Suspect Inoue had also been arrested in May on suspicion of forcing another middle school student into prostitution. Suspect Inoue is reportedly a member of a delinquent group active around the Tokyo Yokocho area and went by the nickname ‘Inocchi.’

This latest arrest stems from allegations that, around 2:50 p.m. on May 5, he forced a third-year junior high school girl to engage in sexual acts at a bathhouse in Kabukicho, and that around 11:40 p.m. on May 9, he forced her to engage in sexual acts at a hotel and filmed the encounter. Suspect Inoue has admitted to the charges, stating, ‘I heard from her that she was 14 years old.’” (National Social Affairs Reporter)

According to a statement from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Inoue sent a message saying, “I want you to say that I forced you into it. If you don’t, I’ll get arrested.” The girl had taken anti-anxiety medication on both days, and on the 9th in particular, she was in a state of overdose. She told police, “I wanted him to stop filming, but since I was overdosing, I just didn’t care anymore.” The relevant division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is continuing its investigation, suspecting there may be additional charges.

Suspect Inoue appears to have been well-known in the To-Yoko area. After interviewing several people, we were able to gather information about his character. He is not, as some reports have suggested, a member of a delinquent gang. One man described him as a show-off.

He had a hidden side too

“Ino-cchi is careless—or maybe just a bit naive—but to put it bluntly, he’s a dumb guy. He wasn’t part of a delinquent gang that did drugs or got into fights all the time; he was just someone who hung out and caused a ruckus in the To-Yoko area. The To-Yoko scene has a high turnover rate, but since he’s been around here for so long, he knows a lot of people. He was also easygoing, so he was naturally accepted by everyone.”

I heard similar accounts elsewhere that he wasn’t a delinquent. Regarding the non-consensual sex, some people said, “It’s a common occurrence; it can’t be helped.” This seems to be related to circumstances unique to To-Yokocho.

“There are a lot of minors in To-Yokocho. But even among friends, no one really knows who’s an adult. Many kids are in a state of confusion due to OD (overdoses) or alcohol, and it’s possible that one of them was victimized. ODs and similar incidents happen routinely at To-Yoko, and people even compete to see how high they can get from an OD, so whether or not sexual acts took place while in that state is a common occurrence,” said the man mentioned earlier.

A woman who claimed to be close to suspect Inoue said, “He was kind and not a dangerous person,” but also testified that he had a hidden side.

“He often let people stay at his place. It didn’t matter if they were middle or high school students. For some reason, there was a rule that you had to pay money to stay at Inocchi’s place, and one of my friends was even told by Inocchi, ‘I let you stay at my place, so pay 100,000 yen.’ There were kids who were struggling because they didn’t have the money. Especially among newcomers to To-Yokocho, some stayed there without realizing it and ended up paying.”

It would be one thing if he were just extorting money for lodging, but it’s said that some people were even blackmailed with videos taken during sexual intercourse.

“Inochi would have sex with girls while they were in a dazed state from an overdose and secretly record videos without them knowing. He would sometimes use those videos to demand money. My friend, who stayed at Inochi’s place and couldn’t pay, was told things like, ‘Go find a sugar daddy’ or ‘Pay with your body,’ and was threatened with, ‘I won’t delete the video unless you pay.’ Since Inochi is unemployed, he’s very strict about money,” said the woman mentioned earlier.

It seems that repeating such behavior eventually led to his arrest.

Crimes have been occurring one after another in the area around To-Yoko. Most recently, a member of an organization affiliated with the “Designated Violent Gang Sumiyoshi-kai” was arrested in late May for attempting to kidnap a woman in her 20s from To-Yoko and take her overseas—just one example of the heinous incidents taking place there. At To-Yoko, age is almost irrelevant; everyone is treated simply as an individual present in that space. There is no end to the unscrupulous adults who take advantage of this, and as a result, it has become a hotbed of crime.

 

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