27-yr-old police sergeant arrested for having sex with 14-yr-old girl

Friday 13th February, 09:53 AM JST

TOKYO —

Police on Thursday arrested a 27-year-old police sergeant for having sex with a 14-year-old school girl in a karaoke booth in Shinjuku. Hiroshi Imai, a sergeant at Machida police station in Tokyo, was arrested on suspicion of having sex with a minor at the karaoke establishment last July. The girl told her parents who reported it to police in January.

According to police, Imai met the girl on an online gaming website through his mobile phone and the two exchanged messages. Imai pretended to be a college student, police said.

Police said Imai had admitted to the allegations, but says he did not give any money to the girl.

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Latest 15 of 95 Total Comments Show All

bamboohat at 11:04 AM JST - 15th February

Ok fellas, time to own up. How many of you would willing sex up a 14 year old if it was not only legal but completely socially acceptable?

It's easy to argue that "todays' soceity is different" blah blah blah. What what happens when you examine the reasons why what used to be acceptable is no longer acceptable?

You'll find it has nothing to do with right or wrong or protecting the innocent. But most people don't like to accept that so they continue to believe in this foolish notion of "right" and "wrong." and hide behind some mythological moral dogma.
ronindave at 11:58 AM JST - 15th February

That its ok for a 27 year old man to hook up with a 14 year old girl? Is that what the point of your argument has been? Because if so, then I'll say it again, the one who is sick here, is you.

Folks used to do it all the time without batting an eye until relatively recently and in some countries, they still do. Will you be imposing your cultural timeset morality on them too?

Personally I don't think in today's modern western society a 27 and 14 year old should "hook up" because of the differences in maturity. In the past a 14 year was treated differently and they thought of themselves differently. Now they belong to that second childhood of teenage-hood and a vast gulf seperates them from someone who is even 5 years older than them. But it's not sick in the same sense of someone who lusts after a prepubscent youth which is far more abnormal as I mentioned before both psychologically and biologically.
ronindave at 12:01 PM JST - 15th February

Calling me puritanical for simply expressing the view held by most of society is nonsense.

I call you puritanical for your indignant self-righteous tone and your argument which hinges more on emotion than logic
Molenir at 01:56 PM JST - 15th February

Folks used to do it all the time without batting an eye until relatively recently and in some countries, they still do. Will you be imposing your cultural timeset morality on them too?

Folks used to commit murder all the time too. Still do in some parts of the world and justify it in the name of religion. Going by your logic, I guess thats ok too then right? I shouldn't push my cultural timeset morality on them right?

I call you puritanical for your indignant self-righteous tone and your argument which hinges more on emotion than logic

Of course there are emotions involved. This is an emotional topic. You'll note though, that despite the obvious emotion in my responses, I'm using logic throughout.

But it's not sick in the same sense of someone who lusts after a prepubescent youth which is far more abnormal as I mentioned before both psychologically and biologically.

It is sick, its just not sick in the sense you mean. I'll grant that someone who lusts after prepubescent children is far more danger to society. However individuals who prey upon young children and teens are likewise sick. And in that respect we are going to disagree. I find people who target young girls, even if physically they are sexually mature, to be deviants at best. You apparently want to excuse them and say, that while its not acceptable in todays society, at one time it was, so that makes it somehow alright. I'm afraid I just can't go along with that argument.
elbudamexicano at 10:45 PM JST - 15th February

I can only imagine this 27 year old is not telling the truth, saying he did not pay?? Yeah right, he di not pay enough? Maybe he wanted to only pay say 10,000 yen the girl wanted more?? He was to stupid and stingy, she got revenge by getting this young idiot cop busted.
ronindave at 04:50 AM JST - 16th February

You apparently want to excuse them and say, that while its not acceptable in todays society, at one time it was, so that makes it somehow alright.

No you assume that. What I want to do is to seperate the perverted from the truly abhorrent. The reason I don't condemn a 27 year old man and 14 woman on face value as harshly as say a 27 year old and an 8 year old is because the former is a society moral - one that has changed in certain cultures but not all. The desire is not abnormal but the action is. However the later is considered abnormal pretty much in all cultures past and present. In this case the desire alone is abnormal.

Basically when it comes to dishing out punishment, IMHO the former should be sentenced to several years in prison and counseling. The latter though should just be taken out behind the wood shed and shot.
likeitis at 03:54 PM JST - 16th February

Folks used to commit murder all the time too.

Using a murder analogy to make a point about sex just seems very, very wrong to me. Further, there have been repercussions for murder in just about any legal system, including legally opening yourself up for revenge attacks by the victim's family.

But more wrong than using murder as a sex analogy is that a look at the past, in itself, is not a justification for anything. It is merely an indicator. You still have to analyze individual points.

One thing that is not being properly appreciated about the past is that it was not a free for all. More often than not, sex was not tolerated outside of marriage. Having sex with multiple women of any age was a great way to get in a lot of trouble.

When things loosened up, the idea of protecting younger persons came to be, and the age of consent was raised. Looking at the state of the times, it is understandable. But times have changed. The dangers of pregnancy and STDs are greatly reduced, so it seems to me that this blanket protection of teenagers is now overkill.

There is still the problems of the older party taking advantage, and the possible emotional damage of a possible bad break up. But it seems to me that the way to deal with that is not a high age of consent with massive penalties for violation. That is like cutting off a leg because of a frost-bitten toe.

I find people who target young girls, even if physically they are sexually mature, to be deviants at best.

You are playing with a stacked deck. Anyone who "targets" on physical attributes so much is already a deviant, whether the stimulus is age, weight or bust size. And we have been up and down this targeting issue and you have not addressed it remotely adequately. This "targeting" implies multiple targets, so it would exclude a one off go. Even two times is still dubious.

Another aspect it that since it is illegal to date with a 14 year old, only those willing to break the law do so. Willing law breakers are technically already deviants, and while most might be mildly so, its the extremes ones we are going to remember best, isn't it?

Oh? Why not walk around the place you work, show your co-workers the story, and ask them what they think about a 27 year old man having sex with 14 year old girl.

Another stacked deck. The circumstance of this sexual encounter are problematic even if they were both 27. I have presented my own objections to it, and I am pretty liberal about this.
likeitis at 04:12 PM JST - 16th February

bamboohat: Ok fellas, time to own up. How many of you would willing sex up a 14 year old if it was not only legal but completely socially acceptable?

I do not "sex up" anyone unless they want me to. Usually what they want to do is date, and sex is just sort of optional. And while I would not seek out any random 14 year old for dating, I have been confronted with some I would date. My only qualm is fear they would get too attached.

Molenir: The reason young girls are so attractive, apart from the obvious, is that the younger they are, the easier they are.

It was refreshing to hear you admit some things about attraction Molenir. But here, I have to take issue with the word "easy". That implies easily tricked, and its those who are trying to trick that deserve to be despised. Easy to maneuver is something else though. A female that is difficult to maneuver is a big turn off for me. It shows that she is not interested. A younger female might be easy to maneuver, but not interested. Eventually, any male with a brain will figure it out. And its those who can't or won't that I despise.

I am inclined to believe females who gave in, or even sought the attention, will not be so distraught about that decision later just because of how old she was unless 1) there was something wrong with the male, as in he really did trick her or lie to her or cared nothing for her or 2) people con her into feeling bad about it.

It seems to me the guy in this case is in category one, and that is why she complained to her parents if complain she did.

But, more than I would say younger women are easy going, I would say they are refreshing. Their energy and enthusiasm is quite the charm point. The beat the heck out of some woman who has become bitter and distrustful, surely any male can see that.
Eizenhauer at 07:55 PM JST - 16th February

It happens so often with police officers in Japan, so shameful as they represent the highest morals and ethics in society...This is just a tip of an iceberg I'm afraid...
helloklitty at 08:14 PM JST - 16th February

Oh? Why not walk around the place you work, show your co-workers the story, and ask them what they think about a 27 year old man having sex with 14 year old girl.

Why not? Because it falls under the category of "creating a hostile work environment".
genjuro at 10:26 PM JST - 16th February

Good points, Molenir. Agreed.
BAYANI98 at 03:17 AM JST - 17th February

Ok

Japan has 2 versions of the Truth: Tatamae and Honnae, in the case of may-december relationships , it goes like this:

Tatame: Sex between someone over 18 and someone under 18 is BAD because it is ILLEGAL ( 1999 law on pornography/prostitution passed only due to heavy foreign - i.e. American - pressure )

Honne: Sex between someone over 18 and someone under 18 is OK because society condones it ( moe/lolicon is Number 1 sexual fetish for straight males in Japan and there is the traditional "Christmas Cake" age limit for women as desirable marriage partners )

Second Point: This is Japan, and they themselves are always saying that "We Japanese Are Different", so why do a lot of the gaijin posters here keep on insisting on applying Non-Japanese moral standards, especially when it comes to sex, to Japanese culture? As the Japanese saying goes " In Japan, there is no Original Sin for sex ".
notimpressed at 10:19 AM JST - 17th February

nice conclusion to the whole tirade of opinions BAYANI98 What we think and say aloud, and actually do, are different within our own cultures and even more so when in comparison with others. It seems here that perhaps its only wrong if you get caught. Although I do think that the effect of law changes over time, do reflect in a change in attitude from the average person.
kattenishiro7 at 08:13 PM JST - 17th February

I can only imagine this 27 year old is not telling the truth, saying he did not pay?? Yeah right, he did not pay enough? Maybe he wanted to only pay say 10,000 yen** the girl wanted more?? He was to stupid and stingy, she got revenge by getting this young idiot cop busted.

i totally agree
PepinGalarga at 08:18 PM JST - 18th February

this cop got duped by this 14 year old girl. checking ID during a date is a real buzzkill, but this guy should have suspected something was up. Perhaps he didnt give her a gucci bag like all her schoolmates get for doing exactly the same thing.