Man sentenced to prison for groping insists on his innocence

TOKYO —

The lower court handed down the ruling of guilty to Hideaki Ishii, in his 50s, for groping a 19-year-old woman in 2005 during his commute on the JR Yokohama line. After a second trial in 2007 that upheld the initial court decision, the Supreme Court rejected Ishii’s final appeal last year in December. After three and a half years’ legal battle to prove his innocence, the former sales executive of a leading corporation will be incarcerated later this month for a term of 1 year and 6 months.

Ishii’s nightmare began in the train on Jan 21 in 2005, when a young woman shouted that he was a groper. He was immediately apprehended on suspicion of violating the nuisance prevention ordinance. Two months later, he was indicted for indecent assault, and the lower court later found him guilty.

According to Ishii, “Many people advised me after my arrest that I should admit to the charge and apologize. Then I’d be required to pay 50,000 yen as penalty and the case will be over. But I refused because it was something I didn’t do. I spent more than 10 million yen in legal fees to prove my innocence and I now face a prison sentence, even though I have no criminal record. The verdict stated that the sentence was appropriate in view of what they claimed was the absence of any sign of remorse. How am I to feel remorse over an act I didn’t commit?”

In the interrogation room, Ishii says that he was tempted to give in. “Police investigators have no qualms about lying just to get a confession. They rejected my request to have a lawyer as ‘impossible,’ blatantly threatened that I would be detained for 20 days if I continued denying the charge and said they would handcuff me. I had already been arrested, so none of it makes sense. But I believed them at the time.”

What prevented Ishii from succumbing to the emotional pressure was his daughter. “I wouldn’t make her into a criminal’s child, not when I am innocent.”

Shortly after the first trial, the prosecution changed the charge from violation of the nuisance prevention ordinance to public assault. Ishii’s lawyer suspected it was due to “loss of face,” since the court ordered his release from detention much earlier than prosecutors had hoped for.

Ishii was certain that his innocence would be proven at court. Around the time the crime allegedly happened, he was standing behind the female victim, but preoccupied with a text message he was sending to a friend. The cell phone records prove this fact, yet the victim insisted she was being groped during that time. A male witness also stated he saw Ishii from the time he was supposedly waiting at the platform for the train, and claimed that the act did happen. However, the said platform is not a station Ishii uses, either to get on or transfer for his commute. If the testimony were true, Ishii would have had to get off the train once. Based on the hour he left home for work, it was impossible for Ishii to be on that platform at the hour as testified.

Yet the court determined that the testimony was credible. Even though Ishii has no prior conviction, what he got was an unsuspended prison sentence. The imprisonment was postponed to wait for Ishii’s recovery from surgery for intestinal cancer, diagnosed after the Supreme Court ruling.

“All I can do is hope for a retrial,” Ishii said. He continues to plea for anyone who may have seen him at the time of the alleged crime to come forward and prove his innocence.

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Latest 15 of 49 Total Comments Show All

MichaelJP at 04:24 PM JST - 15th July

LOL, I've seen exactly this false accusation on a train. A girl pushed against then yelled at some likely looking meek middle-aged guy and the JR staff at the next station nearly pulled him off but fortunately an older lady who was sitting down had witnessed it and she said something angrily and the younger girl suddenly ran away (interestingly there was a younger guy with her who also ran for it). That old guy was very thankful and I bet he would have been in lots of trouble if not for someone standing up for him.
sfjp330 at 04:58 AM JST - 16th July

Why don't they install a hi-resolution security camera on the train to deter groping and false accusation? Camera will act as a third party witness.
Disillusioned at 07:35 AM JST - 17th July

It's all too easy for women to scream, "Chikan!" and have a man falsely accused. However, there is still a large amount of confirmed cases of train groping. Japanese men have shot themselves in the foot. If so many men weren't perverted little dweebs they could make a stand against a false accusation. In this case, I would say he is not guilty and as it is only her word against his with no witnesses he should be given the benefit of the doubt.
JoeBigs at 08:22 AM JST - 17th July

I hate riding the lines, every time I do ride I keep both hands up holding two rings. Feel for the guy, he sounds like he is innocent. But the truth is, no one really knows.

But on thing is true, watch where your hands are and try to avoid contact!
JenniferKim at 04:04 PM JST - 17th July

Sexual assault and domestic violence -- two crimes for which men are all too often presumed guilty until proven innocent.
BeaverCleaver at 06:22 PM JST - 17th July

sfjp330-"Why don't they install a hi-resolution security camera on the train to deter groping and false accusation? Camera will act as a third party witness."

If they are going to invest that much money, 24 hour trains would probably do more to reduce groping incidents being as that last train is always jam packed just for being the last train.

What is more is that people get so packed on the trains, that there is no angle you could put the camera to collect that sort of evidence.
Farmboy at 05:55 PM JST - 18th July

I love how everybody has an opinion about the man's guilt or innocence without having seen or heard the actual evidence. All we have is a story slanted in the man's favor, so much so that one wonders what kind of connection the writer has to the defendant.
helloklitty at 02:53 PM JST - 19th July

Was his DNA on her genital area? On her buttocks? On her clothing? If not, he should be innocent, right?
bdiego at 06:32 AM JST - 21st July

Regardless if this guy did it or not, the justice system in Japan is seriously messed up. There is no presumption of innocence but rather if the police and prosecutor wills it there is in fact a presumption of guilt. The real judge is the the police and prosecutor's office. Everything is done by peer pressure, and saving face really is more important than determining guilt or innocence. For that reason, it no longer matters whether or not a crime was committed.
NuckinFutz at 04:15 PM JST - 21st July

All the more reason to videotape 100% of police interrogations! The remark about the appropriateness of the sentence for somebody who shows a lack of remorse illustrates the utter stupidity of Japanese judges! The remark proves without a doubt in the "you were arrested so you must be guilty" mentality that makes Japanese justice a farce in the 21st century!

Here's another solution - Men only train cars - Women only train cars! No mixing permitted! Draconian? You bet, but it fits right in with the mentality here!
isthistheend at 08:50 PM JST - 25th July

O.K. and let's have a Gaijin only car while we're at it. The other day I was doing the Yamanote line gig which I do twice daily, a.m. and p.m. rush hours, and in the p.m. this smallish oba-san comes behind me, one of 4-5 pushing in at the last as we all do. But this oba-san came after me with first a push in the back and then after safely in, an extra elbow in the side for good measure. I protested, "hiji tsukawanai de kure yo", to which she responded "oh, sorry". This never happened to Cleo in all of her/his 35 years I'm sure, but it does happen. Yes, I'm saying I was picked out by the oba-san BECAUSE I was the only foreigner on that train, and she thinks we need to be kept at bay. It can be ridiculous sometimes. No?
Eizenhauer at 10:20 PM JST - 26th July

Wow, it's good to keep both hands up holding the rings, nothing worse could happen than a false accusation...end up in prison for bloody nothing. Japanese girls have turned very very bad...will get out of this country pretty soon, and for good...too dangerous. I'd rather deal with hells angels gang all alone than with one of these evil Japanese girls. It is rare thou, but still makes me sick to my stomach to read what happened to above mentioned innocent guy who spent his life savings to prove his innocence...
Patrick Smash at 09:51 PM JST - 28th July

The criminal justice system is absolutely disgusting. The police lie and the judges never rule not guilty for anything. They extract confessions over a 23-day incarceration using mild torture. They refuse lawyers access, they refuse to record interviews etc. etc. Most people apprehended just sign because they know this is what will happen if they don't. He could have faced a 50,000-yen fine when this girl made this story up (or made a mistake) but he didn't. Now he has sepnt 10 million yen and faces 18 months in prison in a case where there is zero credible evidence against him. Japan has no justice whatsoever.
USARonin at 11:36 PM JST - 28th July

I'm always bein' falsely accused of gropin' women on trains.

There oughtta be a law.
AK619 at 12:09 AM JST - 29th July

Once you get arrested for something like groping, its just best to say your guilty, it becomes remorse legal tech.

There was an English teacher accused of groping a school girl on a train, he was detained in jail for over three years. Finally, the girl said he didn't grope her butt. You have to be careful of school girls, those chicks can get you in a lot of trouble.

Funny thing, I seen some older foreign guy today walking with his arm around a school girl in her uniform, I was like this guy must be a total idiot. A school girl can become moody at any moment, possibly sending him to jail for a long time, and foreigners always get the highest penalties.