Ex-Tokyo Massage Shop Owner Found Guilty of Exploiting Thai Girl

Tokyo, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese court on Tuesday sentenced a former owner of a Tokyo massage parlor to five years in prison and fined him 1 million yen for making a then 12-year-old Thai girl provide sexual services in violation of laws including the child welfare law.

Tokyo District Court found Masayuki Hosono, 52, guilty of having the girl provide sexual services to male customers between June and August last year without confirming her age in conspiracy with the parlor's former manager, a 39-year-old Thai woman who has already been indicted on similar charges.

Judge Hiroshi Ikegami said that Hosono created a chaotic working environment, dismissing the defense's argument that he should be acquitted because he did not know the girl was a minor.

The judge said the girl's mother told him that she was her 20-year-old sister but that he did not check her identification at all. It cannot be said that Hosono has done enough to check her age, the judge said.

In addition, the judge said that the girl was instructed to work in Japan to repay her mother's debt and came to Japan unable to refuse because of violence she faced.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]