KYOTO (TR）- Prosecutors sought a five-year jail time period for a 42-year-old former civil servant in Shiga Prefecture who’s accused of sexually assaulted a sleeping highschool woman on a passenger practice, reviews the Sankei Shimbun.
Toshiya Kiso, who labored in Moriyama City worker’s facility engineering division, is accused of non-consensual sexual activity and associated offenses. According to police, the assault happened on a JR Sanin Main Line practice on the evening of May 15, 2025.
Shortly after 10:00 p.m., Kiso allegedly sat subsequent to the first-year highschool scholar because the practice traveled between stations in Kyoto and Nantan cities. Over a span of roughly 18 minutes, the suspect frequently groped between the woman’s thighs.
The arrest despatched shockwaves by means of Moriyama City Hall. Colleagues described Kiso as a mild-mannered public servant. “He was usually quiet, silently drawing blueprints in the facility engineering department,” one metropolis official mentioned in a hushed tone. “We are all left speechless that he had such a hidden, dark side.”
On August 22, town dismissed Kiso from his submit on the metropolis. Takashi Morinaka, the mayor, issued a press release saying, “This is truly regrettable, and I offer my deepest apologies to the victim.”
Opening listening to
At the opening of his trial final 12 months, it was revealed that Kiso has a spouse and three youngsters. He has one prior conviction and one prior offense.
Kiso’s spouse mentioned the defendant’s previous infidelity led to a police incident, the prosecution mentioned.
The prosecution went on, “Since then, they promised not to have sexual intercourse as a couple. Because he became bolder when he drank, she made him quit drinking. However, in 2020, it was discovered that he was drinking. It seems he continued to drink after that as well. His wife said that she never thought he would grope a woman the same age as their daughter.”
From 2009, the defendant had an affair with a colleague at work, which resulted in his switch.
“Since then, there has been no sexual intercourse,” the prosecution mentioned. “He stated that he had been rejected when he tried to initiate sex with his wife, and that he was currently satisfying his sexual urges on his own, but that his desire to touch a woman’s body was the motivation for this incident.”
Kiso additionally acknowledged that the promise he had made along with his spouse to not have intercourse could have influenced this incident.
The prosecution mentioned, “He thought she wouldn’t notice because she was asleep, so he touched the base of her right leg, then put his hand down her pants and underwear. He then pressed his middle finger against her vulva several times.
The prosecution also showed that the victim got off at Yagi Station and ran from the building. Kiso also exited at the same station. Since his station had already passed, he bought some food at a FamilyMart convenience story and went home on a train going the opposite direction about 35 minutes later.
Five minutes after the crime, the victim reported the incident to a friend. A teacher at her school later contacted her parents, who then went to the police. The defendant was identified through IC card usage history and other means.
Social media outrage and safety debates
The brazen 18-minute ordeal has reignited heated discussions over railway safety and the lack of women-only carriages on the JR Sanin Main Line in the Kyoto area.
On platforms like X, worried parents and commuters expressed outrage. “My daughter takes this line every day. This isn’t just someone else’s problem,” one consumer wrote, whereas one other demanded, “Women-only carriages are absolutely essential to prevent this.” Conversely, some customers voiced warning, arguing that women-only automobiles are a band-aid answer and that anti-groping measures ought to deal with the basis of the crime no matter gender.
The incident has additionally prompted requires harsher punishments for intercourse offenders. Japan’s penal code was revised in July 2023 to combine pressured indecency and rape into “non-consensual indecency” and “non-consensual sexual intercourse,” making it simpler to prosecute circumstances the place victims are paralyzed by worry and unable to precise non-consent. Despite these adjustments, many voters argue the penalties stay too lenient given the excessive charges of recidivism and the deep psychological scars left on victims.
“Even with the legal revisions, it’s still too soft,” learn one remark echoing the general public sentiment. “We need much stricter penalties.”