“Take a picture and send it to me”: Former Little League coach impersonates a girl to coerce student into lewd acts… “Extremely selfish behavior”

A crime that exploited the vulnerability of a middle school student

The trial of defendant Rei Yamagishi (23 at the time of arrest), who is charged with attempted indecent assault and other offenses for coercing a male junior high school student—a former pupil on a youth baseball team—into engaging in indecent acts, was held on May 28 at the Tokyo District Court.

According to the indictment, Yamagishi posed as a girl on social media, propositioned the male middle school student to exchange obscene images, had him send the images, and then used those images to blackmail him.

“The incident occurred in May 2023. Posing as a girl, Yamagishi used the obscene images as leverage to threaten the male middle school student, telling him to ‘engage in lewd acts with a man between the ages of 18 and 25 and send the images,’ thereby manipulating the student into confiding in him.He exploited the relationship of trust between a youth baseball coach and his players, taking advantage of the middle schooler’s lack of judgment to commit the crime. The defendant’s smartphone, seized at the time of his arrest, contained videos of lewd acts involving at least 10 boys,” said a reporter from the social affairs section of a national newspaper.

When defendant Yamagishi entered the courtroom, he was dressed inappropriately for the season—wearing a white fleece over a black suit—and his behavior was clearly erratic. He immediately complained of stomach pain to the judge and went to the restroom. It was more than 10 minutes before he returned to the courtroom.

Once seated, Yamagishi leaned to one side, stretched his legs out in front of him, pressed a handkerchief to his mouth, and breathed heavily, gasping, “Haah, haah.” His labored breathing echoed throughout the courtroom.Just as the prosecutor was about to read the opening statement, he complained of feeling unwell—saying things like “I want to drink some water and lie down”— as if to interrupt.

Amidst this, the prosecutor read aloud the statement taken from the victim, revealing the nature of the relationship between the two and the details of the crime. The following is the content of that statement.

“Fine. Do whatever you want.”

Defendant Yamagishi was the coach of the youth baseball team the boy had belonged to when he was in fifth grade. Their relationship was reportedly good at the time, and the boy had even asked Yamagishi to come to his house to wake him up for morning practice. Although Yamagishi had touched him on one occasion, he stopped when the boy asked him to “please stop,” and their relationship continued afterward, including going out to eat together.

After the boy entered junior high school, he met a girl on social media who was impersonating Yamagishi and began exchanging messages with her. At first, it was just casual conversation, but when she asked , “Shall we send each other photos of our private parts?” (from the statement read by the prosecution; all quotes in <> are from the same source), he actually sent a photo.She then claims she was threatened with, “If you don’t send me obscene photos with other men, I’ll spread the photos of your genitals.”

Facing these threats, the male middle school student consulted defendant Yamagishi. He was told, “If we send [the images], this will end, so let’s send them together,” and reportedly agreed to engage in lewd acts with defendant Yamagishi. Threatening messages continued to arrive, and the male middle school student stated,

“I couldn’t do anything about it and felt mentally cornered,”

and went to the police. This is how the incident came to light.

Cross-examination of the defendant is scheduled for the next court session. When the judge asked Yamagishi’s defense attorney how much time would be needed for questioning, and the attorney confirmed the duration, Yamagishi spat out, “Five hours.”

“At first, I wondered if he was genuinely unwell, but from his words and attitude, I realized he was just feigning illness. Normally, the defendant’s examination takes about 30 minutes. “The defense attorney tried to persuade Yamagishi in a low voice, but since Yamagishi displayed a dismissive attitude, as if to say, ‘Fine. Do whatever you want,’ the defense attorney requested a recess,” (the reporter mentioned earlier)

When the hearing resumed 30 minutes later, the defense attorney stated,

“This is a case where the defendant’s guilt is in dispute. We need to present evidence from the seized cell phone, so we cannot cover everything during the defendant’s examination.”

However, when the presiding judge—noting that “there is a possibility of conducting the defendant’s examination at the next session”—asked again how long the examination would take, Defendant Yamagishi told his defense attorney , “72 hours.” The defense attorney looked up at the ceiling, took a deep breath, and said , “I will need to consult with the defendant at length,” before the court adjourned.

Defendant Yamagishi displayed the height of discourtesy, even resorting to profanity that disrupted the proceedings. What arguments will he present during the defendant’s examination at the next hearing?