Jiji -- Mar 13
A Japanese court on Monday sentenced a 25-year-old man to nine years in prison for kidnapping a girl, now 17, who was found safe about two years after she went missing in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, in 2014.
Satomi Matsubara, presiding judge at Saitama District Court, recognized that Kabu Terauchi had full competence to take criminal responsibility for the incident.
The judge said Terauchi was aware of the illegality of what he did because he attempted to delay the police's initial response by preparing a fake license plate for the car he used for the crime and getting the girl to write a memo to make it appear she left home at her own will.
"With no marked decline seen in his ability to tell right from wrong and to control his actions, it can be presumed that he was fully competent to take criminal responsibility," Matsubara said.
Noting that the girl was deprived of precious time in terms of physical and mental growth and suffered unimaginable harm, the judge described Terauchi's actions as "despicable and vicious."
The judge said Terauchi was aware of the illegality of what he did because he attempted to delay the police's initial response by preparing a fake license plate for the car he used for the crime and getting the girl to write a memo to make it appear she left home at her own will.
"With no marked decline seen in his ability to tell right from wrong and to control his actions, it can be presumed that he was fully competent to take criminal responsibility," Matsubara said.
Noting that the girl was deprived of precious time in terms of physical and mental growth and suffered unimaginable harm, the judge described Terauchi's actions as "despicable and vicious."
埼玉県朝霞市で少女を誘拐して監禁したなどの罪に問われている男の裁判で、さいたま地裁は懲役9年の判決を言い渡しました。
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