FUKUOKA (TR) – The Fukuoka District Court on Tuesday handed a 66-year-old man a 30-year jail time period for repeatedly intimidating six feminine staff on the pet store he ran earlier than raping them, experiences the Yomiuri Shimbun (Feb. 25).
Presiding decide Hiroto Imaizumi handed down the jail time period to Michio Honda, a resident of Itoshima City, for quasi-forced sexual activity and different crimes carried out repeatedly over a five-year interval ending in 2022.
According to the ruling, Honda repeatedly lied to the six feminine staff — on the time, aged of their 20s and 30s — at his residence and different areas, deceptive them into believing that he was linked to a yakuza legal group.
He additionally held a Japanese sword to their necks and threatened to kill them in the event that they betrayed him earlier than sexually assaulting them and committing indecent acts. One sufferer suffered an undisclosed damage.
“In order to satisfy his own desires, Honda controlled and subjugated many employees through fear,” decide Imaizumi mentioned within the courtroom. “He repeatedly engaged in sexual acts and intimidation, which are uniquely heinous to an unprecedented degree.”
He additionally identified, “Considering that Honda has only used unreasonable excuses and has shown no signs of remorse, a sentence below the maximum of 30 years in prison is not appropriate.”
“I did not commit any acts of intimidation”
The prosecution had sought a 30-year time period. Meanwhile, the protection argued that Honda was “innocent.”
Honda denied the allegations in the course of the trial. “I did not commit any acts of intimidation,” he mentioned.
The protection argued, “The victims were in an intimate relationship with the defendant. They were also not in a position where they could not resist.”
But presiding decide Imaizumi dismissed the latter declare. “They were unable to refuse due to the intense fear of being pointed at with a Japanese sword,” the decide mentioned.
During the trial, one sufferer, aged in her 30s, cited the issue of in search of counseling for sexual assault as the rationale for why the sexual abuse had continued for thus a few years. In her assertion, the lady mentioned, “It is difficult to talk about sexual assault with friends, partners or family. I think it would be good if there were more environments where people could seek counseling when they are sexually assaulted.”
Before handing down the sentence, decide Imaizumi requested Honda, “Is there anything you’d like to say?” Honda responded, “I never made her unable to resist or intimidated her. I also don’t remember being accused of anything.”
Victims not at fault
Hiromi Nakano is the director of the nonprofit group Shiawase Namida in Tokyo. She works to lift consciousness of the elimination of sexual violence.
“It is not the victims who cannot seek counseling who are at fault, but the perpetrators,” she informed the Yomiuri. “If you are a victim, please seek counseling at one-stop support centers [for victims of sexual violence] from within your local government.”