Society

Shizuoka city councilor nabbed for child prostitution after internet posts discovered

Jan 11 (tokyoreporter.com) - Kanagawa Prefectural Police used posts made by a city councilor in Shizuoka Prefecture to arrest him for allegedly engaging in illicit acts with an underage boy and soliciting obscene photographs from another youth last year, reports TBS News

On December 10, Masaji Shimada, a 70-year-old city council member for Kosai City, Shizuoka, allegedly paid 10,000 yen to the boy, a 17-year-old second-year high school student, to engage in acts deemed obscene at a hotel in Yokohama.

Shimada has also been accused of asking another boy in Yokohama, aged 14 at the time, to send him a photograph showing the youthâ€™s lower body via the smartphone application Line on March 19, 2017.

Shimada admits to the allegations, police said.

Prior to arresting Shimada, police examined posts made by the councilor on internet bulletin board sites.

In 2010, Shimada was first elected to office as an independent candidate. Currently in his third term, he serves on a construction-related committee.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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