Comedian Saito Pleads Not Guilty to Sexual Assault Charges

Tokyo, March 13 (Jiji Press)–Shinji Saito, a former member of popular Japanese comedy group Jungle Pocket, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges during the first court hearing of his trial on Friday. According to the indictment, Saito allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in her 20s on a bus parked in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward on July 30, 2024. “I thought I had her consent,” Saito, accused of non-consensual sexual intercourse and indecency, said at Tokyo District Court. The prosecution said that Saito and the woman were to work together on a television program. After the alleged assault, the woman asked Saito to stop and consulted with her mother and acquaintances via a messaging app. She reported the incident to police five days later. The defense said that Saito had no intention of committing a crime and has begun negotiations to apologize and settle the matter privately. In October 2024, Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department sent the case to prosecutors. Later, Yoshimoto Kogyo, the entertainment company that managed Saito, canceled its contract with him. Saito was indicted without arrest in March last year. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]