Former Japanese lawmaker awarded 3-year suspended jail term for statutory rape

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) – A court in Japan sentenced a former parliament member on Monday to three years in prison for sexually abusing a middle-school girl in Tokyo last year.

Tamotsu Shiiki, 58, a former member of the lower house, or House of Representatives, was found guilty of non-consensual fornication by the Tokyo District Court and sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years.

The judge who sentenced Tamotsu reportedly said he committed a "vile" offense that "exploited the victim's immaturity," Kyodo News reported.

The court suspended the three-year sentence for five years on the grounds that Tamotsu had apologized and paid compensation, despite the prosecutor’s request for a five-year sentence.

Tamotsu assaulted the 12-year-old girl in a karaoke parlor in Tokyo's Kabukicho district, a popular nightlife destination, on an evening in August last year.

Previously, Tamotsu served two terms as a lawmaker in the House of Representatives.