Babysitter sent to prison after girl suffers fractured skull while he played pachinko

The Mainichi Shimbun
December 5, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071205p2a00m0na016000c.html

MIYAZAKI -- A babysitter on trial after a 3-year-old girl fell and fractured her skull while he played pachinko was handed an eight-month prison sentence in a ruling at the Miyazaki District Court on Wednesday.

Handed the prison sentence was 31-year-old Yoichi Saito, a pachinko store employee. Saito had faced charges of professional negligence resulting in injury.

"His criminal responsibility for betraying the trust put in him is not light," a court judge said as the sentence was handed down.

Saito had formed a contract with the 33-year-old mother of the girl to look after the 3-year-old, but he left the girl alone for about three hours from 7:50 p.m. on Sept. 14, while he went out and played pachinko, the ruling said.

While Saito was away from the home, the girl fell from the fifth-floor balcony of her home to the second floor, and suffered a fractured skull.

（Mainichi Japan） December 5, 2007