Overview
- The Hokkaido Prefectural Police on Dec. 3 sent case documents to prosecutors on suspicion of non-consensual indecent assault by a male police inspector in his 40s assigned to the police academy.
- Disciplinary action includes a six-month suspension, and the force said the officer will leave the service at his own request effective Dec. 4.
- Investigators say the alleged incident occurred on the morning of Sept. 6 at a Sapporo swimming facility, where two elementary-school girls under 13 were touched multiple times while swimming.
- The girls did not know the suspect, facility staff reported the incident the same day, and the officer later admitted the conduct after initially denying it.
- He told police he acted to satisfy sexual desire and said he had done similar acts five or six times since early summer, while a senior oversight official publicly apologized and vowed stricter instruction and ethics training to restore trust.