Underage Sex OK If It's Sincere

[Mulboyne]

There doesn't appear to be a story available in English yet but several Japanese news sources (Asahi, ZAKZAK and Livedoor News ) are reporting a surprising verdict in an underage sex case. Police arrested a 32 year old salaryman in Aichi prefecture on suspicion of having sex with an underage girl. The 17 year old high school student met the man when she started working part time at a restaurant operator where he was a vice-president. The man, married with three children, began dating the girl in April of last year. In June, he went with her to a local cinema, took her for dinner and later went to a Nagoya love hotel for sex. Some of the reports say they went to hotels on a total of seven occasions. The girl's mother found out about the relationship and took her along to report the matter to the police. The man was arrested and prosecutors brought the case to trial, seeking a conviction and a fine of 400,000 yen. In spite of the overwhelming factual evidence, the court on Wednesday handed down a not guilty verdict.

What appears to have been in the man's favour is that judges believed the relationship was sincere. The presiding judge stated that there is a difference between 「淫行」("obscenity") and 「純愛」("innocent love") although he recognized the fine line he was drawing. He believed that the man's affair was certainly adulterous but the laws against exploitation of minors were not drawn up to outlaw such activity. He believed there was sufficient evidence that the two had sincere feelings for each other which resulted in consensual sexual intercourse. Legal experts were surprised by the verdict since it appears to set a precedent. However, they played down the idea that the court has drawn up a paedophile's charter. They note that most cases of underage sex involve clear exploitation, no evidence of any relationship history, a minor who has run away from home or, most often, some form of compensation. Evidence of any of the above would have seen a guilty verdict.

[kurohinge1]

Originally Posted by Mulboyne

. . . (Asahi, ZAKZAK and Livedoor News ) are reporting a surprising verdict in an underage sex case.

. . . the court on Wednesday handed down a not guilty verdict.

. . . [The presiding judge] believed that the man's affair was certainly adulterous but . . . there was sufficient evidence that the two had sincere feelings for each other which resulted in consensual sexual intercourse . . .

Hands up who thinks the presiding judge has some "skeletons in his closet" and is just feathering his own nest in case they're found.

[FG Lurker]

I'd say her age had something to do with it as well. 17...18...not a lot of difference. It's not like she was some JHS student.

[amdg]

Christ, what a stipid decision. If judges don’t apply the law as it is written then the public have no idea what the hell the law is and therefore can’t reasonably be expected to obey it.

I understand there are often mitigating circumstances, like there supposedly were in the present case, but that should be reflected in the sentencing, not in the convicition. The fact is he broke a law, so he should be convicted. If the facts surrounding the breaking of the law show that this was not a cut and dried case of an adult taking advantage of a child, then just give him a suspended sentence, or what the required minimum is.

Fucking activist judges piss me off because all they are doing is weakening the public trust in the system. Now we are going to see the “true love” defence come up in every single one of these cases, and idiotic judges who think they can somehow see into the hearts of men because they went to law school, will be believing them.

[amdg]

Can't edit at work, so let's just pretend I spelt that all really well.

[Gilligan]

Originally Posted by amdg

If judges don’t apply the law as it is written then the public have no idea what the hell the law is and therefore can’t reasonably be expected to obey it.

I understand there are often mitigating circumstances, like there supposedly were in the present case, but that should be reflected in the sentencing, not in the convicition. The fact is he broke a law, so he should be convicted.

Excellent point amdg; well put.

[Jack]

You don't know what the exact law reads like right? Although there may be a "Law" there may also be what's called "the spirit of the Law" in the preamble to the law. So if the spirit of the law is to protect the exploitation of minors then in this case there was no exploitation and the judge is right to take that into consideration. You can blindly follow the law but a good judge also looks at the spirit of the law and puts the crime in context.

The same instance goes when you kill someone in self-defense. Killing someone is against the law, but if you clearly adiosed that person in self-defense, in this part of the world, you are off the hook even though you killed someone which is against the law.

[Mulboyne]

Mainichi: Hokkaido government official gets slap on wrist for sexual relationship with girl, 13

A Hokkaido Prefectural Government official has been handed a suspended prison term for having sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl. The Sapporo District Court sentenced Hiroyuki Ishikawa, 33, an official with the prefectural government's local taxation office in Fukagawa, to one year in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the anti-child prostitution law. During hearings, his defense lawyer had claimed that Ishikawa was innocent. "He neither knew that the girl was under 18 nor promised to pay her for sex." Judge Iichiro Sakata dismissed the defense counsel's claim. "The girl clearly looked under 18." He also said the girl's statement that Ishikawa had promised to pay her can be trusted. Ishikawa was convicted of having sexual relations with the girl, who was 13 years old at the time, at a hotel in Shiroishi-ku, Sapporo, in early December last year, and promised to pay her 20,000 yen, while knowing that she was under 18.

[omae mona]

So can we conclude that if your promise to make payment is sincere, then you can get a suspended sentence?

[GomiGirl]

This is outrageous. The judge has stated that he was obviously doing the wrong thing and yet he is not being punished. Why aren't her parents creating a fuss about this?