Ex-Senior Osaka Prosecutor Pleads Not Guilty to Sexual Assault

Osaka, Oct. 27 (Jiji Press)--A former head of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office, charged with sexually assaulting a female subordinate, pleaded not guilty in his second court hearing at Osaka District Court on Tuesday.

Defendant Kentaro Kitagawa, 67, switched to denying the charge of constructive forcible sexual intercourse despite admitting to it in the first hearing.

The focus of the trial, which resumed after a two-year hiatus, will shift to whether the woman was unable to resist the assault and whether Kitagawa acted with criminal intent.

"I admit to the fact that I engaged in sexual intercourse, but I dispute that the alleged victim was unable to resist," Kitagawa told the court.

In their opening statement, the prosecution said that the woman staggered when leaving a restaurant, entered a taxi in a drunken state while being supported by Kitagawa, and went to his home in housing for public servants.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]