ANA Captain Jailed for Sexually Assaulting Cabin Attendant

Tokyo, July 14 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo District Court on Tuesday sentenced a captain of All Nippon Airways to one year and eight months in prison for grabbing the buttocks of a female flight attendant.

Judge Takao Okawa said that the defendant, Ryota Mise, 44, committed a "despicable" sexual assault that abused his position as captain. The judge dismissed Mise's claim of innocence.

Prosecutors had sought a prison term of two years and six months.

The woman testified that she was grabbed by the buttocks multiple times on a street and in a convenience store by Mise, whom she had met for the first time on the previous day's flight, after a group meal. The judge found her testimony "convincing and highly credible."

In response to the defendant's claim that he thought that he had built trust at the group meal and therefore believed it was permissible to touch the woman's buttocks for mischief, the court concluded that the defendant could not avoid a prison sentence.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]