Aichi Prefectural Government official busted for using child prostitutes

The Mainichi Shimbun
June 4, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080604p2a00m0na014000c.html

NAGOYA -- An Aichi Prefectural Government employee who paid two schoolgirl prostitutes 5,000 yen apiece to perform indecent acts on them has been arrested, police said.

Masanori Yamaji, 38, was arrested for breaking the law banning child prostitution and child pornography by allegedly paying two 17-year-old schoolgirls for sex.

Yamaji denies the allegations.

"I didn't realize they were under 18," he told police.

Police said Yamaji met the girls on Jan. 5 and paid them each 5,000 yen so he could perform indecent acts on them in a car.

Police said one of the girls met Yamaji through a mobile phone matchmaking site in August last year and brought along a classmate when she went to meet him.

Yoshio Yuyama, head of the prefectural government's construction department to which Yamaji belongs, apologized to prefectural residents.

"I'm really sad that rules that should have been obeyed by a human being weren't, let alone by a government official," Yuyama said. "I'm filled with sadness."

Yuyama said Yamaji had been working in an administrative section at the time the alleged crime occurred and was known for his serious approach to work. The division manager said Yamaji had not previously been punished at work.

Yamaji's arrest is the sixth of an Aichi prefectural official this year, with other alleged offenses including an employee accused of inflicting bodily injury resulting in death and another arrested for breaking a Mie Prefectural Government ordinance outlawing public nuisances after allegedly taking illicit photos using a hidden camera.

(Mainichi Japan) June 4, 2008