crime

Assistant prosecutor arrested for allegedly groping woman on train

32 Comments

An assistant prosecutor at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office has been arrested for allegedly molesting a woman on a JR train. The incident is alleged to have taken place on April 12 at around 10:30 p.m. on a Tohoku line train between Nishi-Nippori and Tabata stations. The victim, a 32-year-old female company employee claims that Toshiyuki Negishi, 57, lifted her coat from behind and began to touch her. She then disembarked, as did Negishi, at Tabata Station, at which point she grabbed him and called out for station staff.

According to Takinogawa police, Negishi said he was intoxicated at the time of the alleged groping. Police say Negishi has denied the accusation. Later on, Negishi claimed not to remember the incident, police said.

© Compiled from news reports

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32 Comments
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That is why I don't get drunk and ride the train home. All inhibitions gone, and the damage you are doing not apparent til the next day! Take a taxi if too drunk to remember.

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Another groping incident. At least a sign that things are getting back to normal on these pages(guess earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear disasters don't affect gropers).

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Grope me. Watch what happens. Good woman for dragging him with her.

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haruka - please elaborate. what would you do?

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Key word here for the moment is "allegedly". Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, who knows.

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I hope the poor woman had help apprehending the groper. I would hate to think the men just stood around watching. So now, I have to ask: Does the assistant prosecutor get to prosecute his own case?

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So, he either: didn't do it, was drunk, or can't remember. A wonderful example of the high standard of integrity the prosecutors here are expected to uphold.

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"I don't remember"...nice one. Being a prosecutor, I would think he could have came up with a better one than that.

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They need more posters around train stations stating "KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF" along with the "Groping is a crime" signs.

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"Police say Negishi has denied the accusation. Later on, Negishi claimed not to remember the incident, police said." - Priceless! "I deny it. No, wait... that won't do. Um... I don't remember it!" <-- that way he can't perjure himself, I guess.

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Key word here for the moment is "allegedly". Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, who knows.

Well, if he didn't I think he should come up with a better defense than "I can't remember".

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yeah things are getting back to normal..gropings, ozawa, sumo scandal etc..all we need now are a couple of stolen underwear stories, north korea kidnapping cases, celebrity drunken scandals, disputed island stories, etc...the fukushima problems will all be forgotten!

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"Grope me and see what happens?" Ladies, grope me and I'll love it ...

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ive dented a few toes since my time riding trains in Japan,,,wearing heels always helps, otherwise a swung elbow backwards helps too

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These stories so often make me cringe. The groper was behind her on the train, so she grabbed the guy who got off the train behind her? How can we know it was the same guy? How can she?

As for the apparent discrepency in his two statements, it could be semantics or it could be the infamous interogation by Japanese police or both. The fact that he was drunk also changes his perception over time.

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How can we know it was the same guy?

I would hope there is some kind of dna/fingerprint check on her clothes... if not then it is insane because anyone can fire off this kind of accusation!

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Only two types of males in this world. Those who grope and those who control themselves.

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This prosecutor is going to be procsecuted.

yasukuni - You forgot the third type of male in this world - those who have no need to grope females on trains because we are above that sort of thing.

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The two most common excuses I read in these kinds of stories are "I was drunk" and/or "I don't remember."

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According to Takinogawa police, Negishi said he was intoxicated at the time of the alleged groping.

Oh! So he was in full control of his faculties, then.

Police say Negishi has denied the accusation.

See? He clearly denies he did what she said he did!

Later on, Negishi claimed not to remember the incident, police said.

See? He doesn... Wait. What? You remembered enough to deny the accusation, but now you don't remember? Good luck with that defense, ojiisan!

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Fadamor, it is possible he does not even remember the woman grabbing him if he was drunk enough. On the spot he said he did not do it, then when he sobered up all memory was gone.

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Negishi claim he was so affected by alcohol that he did not have the necessary intent. Obviously he must have consumed an enormous amount of alcohol to use this defence. In Japan courts, they should refused to endorse this defence because the it is not in the best interests of the public. Japan should banned the use of extreme drunkenness as a defence. Japan law should send a message that people have to be held responsible for their criminal conduct even if they intoxicate themselves voluntarily. Everyone knows that excessive drinking affects their behavior. Getting very drunk and committing a crime is defensible if strict legal principles are applied. However, in the real world, where adults are supposed to take responsibility for their actions, it seems sensible that the law should reflect these basic principles of decent behavior.

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@Sarge. Yes, you are right.

I was intoxicated when I wrote that post, and don't remember writing it. I'm very sorry if anyone was offended by it.

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No, yasukuni, you're partly right. The third type are made up of liars. ;-)

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I wonder what would happen if, when groped women groped back? I think if women groped back, men might hit them and hurt them. I also fear that if women groped back, men might rape them and would then call what they did, consensual sex. After all, she returned the grope, that must have meant she was up for it! I think the only way the power dynamic around groping might change would be if women started randomly groping men whenever they got the chance-not groping back, but instigating the groping, so that men and boys never knew when or under what circumstances they might be groped and could not predict who would grope them. After all, men grope women they already want, for whatever reason, to touch; touching them back just gives them more of what they wanted in the first place. But women assuming agency and groping men they wanted to grope without concern for what the men wanted, that's something different. That is, in fact what men do to women when they grope us.

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Guys groping on trains is disturbing enough - but really crazy when it's police and legal people doing it.

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Hovenachama:

Apparently they have "chijou" too. A friend of mine insists he got groped. Although I think that is pretty rare.

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Novenachama, the beginning of your post was not impressive, but by the end you got the real point. Men think they could handle getting borish treatment from aggressive women, but psychological studies have shown they can for only a few minutes before the novelty wears out and they start feeling just like these women: some are stunned, some are angry, some are ashamed, etc. And having a decidedly unattractive woman aggresively after us is no treat. And since four out of five are so, a world of aggressive women would be hell. I think women handle the situation a bit better than men would.

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In a very odd way, this news story makes me happy. It is nice to know that some things in Japan have not changed, and that some people don't have better things to do than lose their self control and get all gropey.

Although, I think a GREAT punishment for this guy would be a month's duty at a shelter up here in Miyagi. Just boom. No charges, but do a month of service. NOW. He needs to do some learning about what a human being is.

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I know some guys would love being groped by women but personally I would be annoyed if some woman I didn't know (even a very attractive one) started feeling me up because she "couldn't control herself". My body is my property, same goes with every other human being in the world. Nobody truly wants their physical space to be invaded unless they have a fetish for it.

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@novenachama, honest, et al

I have been groped before at random several times. My reaction ranged from interest and happiness to severe annoyance. It depends on who when and where and what I felt from them. (I'm a guy btw.)

I could not personally imagine wanting to wreck a person's career and face in national press by getting them arrested for a lonely desperate reaching for somebody, or even a horny lascivious reaching. I might feel differently if they were twice my weight and forcing themselves inside my clothing. But still, I recommend trying moving or refusing before getting drastic.

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Potential material for the ELITE prosecutors squad - just don't forget the video tapes!

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