Society

Osaka: Man, 35, accused of raping girl, 12, he met via Line

Dec 07 (tokyoreporter.com) - Osaka Prefectural Police have arrested a 35-year-old man for allegedly raping a female middle school student he met online earlier this year, reports the Asahi Shimbun

According to the Shijonawate Police Station, Kazuki Irie is alleged to have sexually assaulted the girl, then 12, inside a vehicle stopped in a parking lot in Osaka Prefecture in June.

Irie, who has been accused of rape, admits to the allegations.

The suspect met the girl via the smartphone application Line. In April and May, he requested that she send him nude photographs showing her face. In luring her out prior to the alleged crime, the suspect threatened the girl by saying he would distribute the images.

Irie is also under investigation for sending the images to acquaintances, which would be a violation of the anti-child prostitution and pornography law.

In July, police first arrested Irie for allegedly raping another school girl he met on a deai-kei matchmaking site.

Crimes on the rise

The number of crimes involving the transmission of nude photographs has been on the rise in recent years, according to National Police Agency data. In 2012, there were 207 cases. Last year, the figure reached 480.

Of the latter figure, 341 of the cases involved middle and high-school students. In the majority of the incidents, the smartphone was used to distribute images on social-networking services, according to the data.

Tokyo and Hyogo Prefecture are currently considering modifications to ordinances to prohibit the requesting of nude images from minors.

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