Tokyo massage shop owner jailed five years for exploiting Thai girl

TOKYO: A Japanese court on Tuesday sentenced a former owner of a Tokyo massage parlour to five years in prison and fined him ¥1 million for making a then 12-year-old Thai girl provide sexual services in violation of laws including the Child Welfare Law.

The Tokyo District Court found Masayuki Hosono, 52, guilty of having the girl provide sexual services to male customers between June and August last year without confirming her age, in conspiracy with the parlour’s former manager, a 39-year-old Thai woman who has already been indicted on similar charges.

Judge Hiroshi Ikegami said that Hosono created a chaotic working environment, dismissing the defence’s argument that he should be acquitted because he did not know the girl was a minor.