“2,000 Acts of Violence”: Wife Who Helped Her “Polygamous” Husband’s Reverse Blackmail Scheme Testifies The Shocking Reality of Her Husband’s Brutal Brainwashing
Conspiracy involving a husband, wife, and common-law wife
The trial for defendant Haruka Ono (28 at the time of arrest), the wife accused of providing sexually explicit video recordings—which she secretly filmed of her husband having sex with a “sugar baby”—to others, as well as attempted fraud, and defendant Rin Ono (23 at the time of arrest), her common-law partner, was held on October 6,at the Tokyo District Court.
“The defendant Yohei Ono (39 at the time of arrest), along with the defendants Haruka Ono and Rin Ono, were living a polygamous lifestyle in an apartment in Kabukicho, Tokyo. They confined a teenage girl—whom they had met through ‘sugar dating’—in that apartment. They put a collar on her, calling her ‘a dog,’ and repeatedly assaulted her and forced her to engage in sexual acts.The incident came to light when the woman seized an opportunity to escape and rushed to the police. It was widely reported in the news,” said a reporter from the crime desk of a national newspaper.
According to the indictment, defendants Haruka and Rin conspired with defendant Yohei to secretly film him having sexual intercourse with the woman and posted the videos on a video-sharing site to generate revenue.Furthermore, defendant Haruka made false accusations against the woman—such as claiming that “our marriage broke down due to her infidelity”—and demanded 3 million yen in compensation, attempting to swindle her out of the money. On June 17, defendant Ono’s first trial was held, revealing the surprising tactics of this “reverse honey trap.”
For those who wish to know more details about this trial, please refer to the report in Friday Digital, published on June 25, ’26.
During the defendant’s questioning held that day, the reality of their bizarre polygamous lifestyle came to light, as did the fact that defendants Haruka and Rin had been brainwashed by the violence inflicted by defendant Yohei. The first hearing had taken place on June 5, and both defendants had admitted to the charges.
They are currently out on bail, and defendant Haruka appeared in court 10 minutes before the hearing began. She was wearing a beige shirt and black pants, with her long hair—reaching down to her back—tied back in a single ponytail. Wearing glasses and a mask, her unassuming appearance remained unchanged from the first hearing.
Defendant Rin, on the other hand, appeared just as the hearing was about to begin.
Rin’s intelligent-looking features stood in stark contrast to Haruka’s unassuming appearance. On this day, she wore a black pantsuit that looked as if she were out job hunting, and her expression betrayed a sense of nervousness. For a moment, she glanced at Haruka, but Haruka did not look back at Rin.
The proceedings on this day proceeded in the following order: the defense attorneys read aloud summaries of the two defendants’ statements of remorse and written statements; witness examinations (Haruka’s father and Rin’s mother); cross-examination of Haruka; and cross-examination of Rin.
In her statement of remorse, the defendant Haruka said,
“I had lost the ability to think for myself. I should have run away sooner. I want to divorce my husband and absolutely do not want to see him again. I will never commit a crime again.”
A 13-page statement to that effect was read aloud.
Amid a heavy atmosphere, the examination of Haruka’s father as a witness began. He stated that he had received a message from Haruka—with whom he had lost contact—for the first time in six years, two weeks before her arrest.
“I was happy when she contacted me. Since I hadn’t seen her for six years, I thought I might never see her again.”
However, his joy was short-lived. Haruka pleaded with him, saying, “I need money for a settlement, so please lend me some,” but he refused, saying, “I’ve never even met Yohei.” He later learned of the incident through news reports.
“Violence occurred almost every day.”
Regarding why she had been out of contact during that time, he stated , “Part of the reason was that I was too harsh on her while she was job hunting.” Describing Haruka’s personality, he said , “She is emotionally unstable, trusting of others, and easily deceived.” He added that while on bail, the three of them—his wife, Haruka, and himself—are living together, and the couple is supporting Haruka.
The proceedings then moved on to the defendant’s testimony. Haruka met Yohei in 2019—a time when she had lost contact with her parents due to a strained relationship—and they began dating. Her impression of Yohei at the time was that he was “kind and talkative.” However, once Haruka began helping with work at the company Yohei had founded, he revealed his true colors.She began to be physically abused every time she made a mistake. That company also went out of business in 2021.
She stated that Yohei began secretly filming himself having sex with women involved in “sugar dating” and posting the videos on video-sharing sites to generate revenue in 2023 , “after Rin-chan (Defendant Rin Ono) joined us.” However, Yohei began complaining that “the revenue wasn’t enough, ” so they hatched a plan to swindle money from these sugar dating women—a scheme they called “the ‘Gift-Taking Uncle.’”
Defendant Haruka stated,
“We had to get legally married in order to carry out the ‘Toki-oji-san’ scheme,”
admitting that they entered into a marital relationship for the purpose of committing a crime. Before the three of them moved into an apartment in Kabukicho, the four of them—Defendant Yohei, Defendant Yohei’s mother, Defendant Haruka, and Defendant Rin—had been living together in Defendant Haruka’s company-provided housing. When Defendant Yohei proposed a polygamous lifestyle, she said, “I was shocked and thought it was awful,” but
“He [Defendant Yohei] told me, ‘This was the only way for us to live happily as a family.’ At the time, my life wasn’t going well, and I was very anxious. I thought, ‘Someone who’s honest enough to tell me this might actually be a good person,’”
she explained, adding that this led her to accept the polygamous arrangement. However, above all else,
“I was being abused, so I had no choice but to obey,”
she added, explaining that she lived in fear of Yohei’s violence. When asked what kind of violence she endured,
“Being punched and kicked was a daily occurrence. He’d zap me with a stun gun, or lay down cardboard on the landing of our apartment building and tell me, ‘Sleep here,’”
she testified. Among the many acts of violence, she said the worst was being water-tortured. A wet towel was placed over her face, and water was continuously poured over it from the shower, making it difficult for her to breathe.
“The violence happened almost every day. There were days when I was assaulted dozens of times. It happened so often I don’t even want to think about it. I think it happened about 2,000 times.”
Although the video is said to have generated tens of millions of yen in revenue, none of it was distributed to her. Haruka, the defendant, was given only a few thousand yen as pocket money. When asked how she spent it, she said, “I used it to buy slightly expensive cosmetics.” It seems to have been her only small pleasure amid that hellish life.
“I was nothing more than a tool.”
Why didn’t she run away even in a situation like that? Treated as incompetent by the defendant Yohei,
“I thought I was incompetent, so I couldn’t do anything unless I was with Yohei,”
she said, explaining that this deepened her dependence. Additionally, because she had a strained relationship with her parents,
“I thought my parents would get angry if they found out, and I feared Yohei would take revenge on me, so I felt I had no choice but to stay here,”
explaining why she continued the polygamous arrangement.
Regarding why she remained silent immediately after her arrest, she explained, “Yohei told me, ‘If you get arrested, stay silent.’” However, during the investigation, police seized Yohei’s brainwashing manual, which contained personality analyses of defendants Haruka and Rin, as well as brainwashing procedures.After being informed by the police of the notes’ existence, she switched to confessing, stating, “I was nothing more than a tool,” and finally broke free from the brainwashing.
She had been out of contact with her parents for six years, but
“I caused my family a lot of trouble. Even though I did something terrible, they didn’t abandon me. I want to work on improving our relationship,”
Haruka said, noting ironically that it was her arrest that made her realize her parents’ love. Finally, when the presiding judge asked, “What kind of person is Yohei Ono to you?”
“He is my fear. I never want to see him again. I told the detective this too: he’s someone I can forgive only after he’s dead. Until then, I cannot forgive him,”
Her words resonated heavily in the silent courtroom—
In Part 2, we will provide a detailed report on defendant Rin’s written statement, the cross-examination of her mother, and the defendant’s own testimony.