Man Arrested for Employing Thai Girl at Tokyo Massage Shop

Tokyo, Nov. 6 (Jiji Press)–Japanese police have arrested a man for allegedly having a 12-year-old Thai girl work at his massage shop in Tokyo, in a suspected human trafficking case involving sexual exploitation of a child. The man, Masayuki Hosono, 51, was arrested by Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department on suspicion of employing a girl aged 15 years or younger at his massage shop in the capital between June and July in violation of the labor standards law. The girl was born in northern Thailand and used to live with her younger sister and grandparents, according to the police. The girl and her mother arrived at Hosono’s shop on the same day when they arrived in Japan in late June. But the mother disappeared the day after the arrival. Then, the girl, who cannot speak Japanese, slept near the shop’s kitchen and provided sexual services for customers at the shop. Police, suspecting that the case is human trafficking for sexual exploitation of a child, are looking into possible involvement by a brokers’ group. The girl was instructed how to perform sexual services by her mother on the day when the two arrived at the shop. She provided the services to some 60 customers per month, earning more than 600,000 yen. The money was sent to a bank account of a person related to the mother. After quitting Hosono’s shop in August, the girl continued to provide sexual services at other shops on referral from the mother. The case came to light when the girl sought help from the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau in September. The girl, now being sheltered, says that she wants to meet her sister and grandparents and go to school in Thailand, according to the police. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]