9 teenagers arrested for assaulting two boys over Internet insults

Japan Today
Friday, December 21, 2007 at 16:29 EST
Source: http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/423347

TOKYO — Police on Thursday arrested nine teenage girls and boys in Tokyo for assaulting two other boys in retaliation for their insulting comments against one of the girls on an online profile website for mobile phones. The nine, aged 14 to 16, were arrested for assaulting two 14-year-old boys at a park in Shinagawa on June 27.

According to police investigations, a 14-year-old girl found insulting comments, such as "Ugly" and "Don't come to school," on her online profile webpage, and found the victims had written them several times. The girl asked her friends to retaliate. The gang of nine took the boys to a park where they stripped them naked, kicked and punched them, and burned them with lit cigarettes.

The teenagers have admitted to the charges and expressed regret at having gone too far, police said.

Nine teens arrested for assaulting two boys over slanderous Web posts

The Mainichi Shimbun
December 20, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071220p2a00m0na020000c.html

Nine teenagers have been arrested and another referred to a child guidance center for assaulting two boys in Tokyo in retaliation for posting messages on a Web site slandering one of the group, police said Thursday.

The 10 teenagers -- six junior high school girls, a girl who has graduated from the school and three boys -- stand accused of inflicting bodily injury.

The suspects admitted to the allegations and expressed regret during questioning. "Our attack went too far," one of them was quoted as telling investigators.

In June, the suspects forced the victims, second-year junior high school boys, to take off their clothes at a park in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, then proceeded to hit and kick them, investigators said. The victims suffered injuries that took one to two weeks to heal.

The two boys had posted slanderous messages on a Web profile of one of the arrested girls, according to Tokyo police. "Don't come to school," one of the messages read.

The girl asked the nine others to join her in assaulting the boys in retaliation for the messages.

（Mainichi Japan） December 20, 2007