Former Lawmaker Plead Guilty To Raping 12-Year Old Girl and Walked Out Of The Courtroom A Free Man.   A former member of Japan’s House of Representatives, 58-year-old Tamotsu Shiiki, walked out of a Tokyo courtroom Monday with a three-year prison sentence, suspended for five years, for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old middle school girl in a Kabukicho karaoke parlor. Kabukicho is the red-light district of Tokyo. The ruling ensures that, barring another conviction, he will never see the inside of a cell.   Tokyo District Court Judge Chikako Murata called the crime “vile” and condemned Shiiki for "preying on the vulnerability of a child", whose “immaturity” he had exploited. But in the next breath, the court extended its mercy. Shiiki had apologized. He had paid his compensation. And, critically, he had not explicitly used his position as a former lawmaker—only the quiet authority and confidence that men like him are granted as a birthright.   Prosecutors had sought five years. They got nothing.  A Crime in the Heart of Tokyo’s Nightlife District According to the indictment, on August 20, 2024, in the neon-lit sprawl of Kabukicho, Shiiki took the girl to a karaoke parlor and assaulted her. He had nothing to say in court. He had already admitted to the charges.   By any measure, the facts were not in dispute. The court noted that Shiiki’s motive was pure self-interest—his own sexual gratification. The crime was "despicable and malicious,” but the sentence reflected the familiar calculus of Japanese justice, where men of standing rarely serve time unless their guilt is both undeniable and inconvenient.   A Political Career Unraveled  Once a rising politician, Shiiki was first elected to the Lower House in 2012, under the banner of the Japan Restoration Party. He clawed his way in through "proportional representation", serving two terms before falling from political grace.   Now, he joins a growing list of disgraced public figures who have found a way to survive scandal—not in elected office, but in the margins, where apologies and settlements stand in for justice.   Shiiki left the courthouse a "convicted sex offender", but a free man. That, too, is part of the system. Japan doesn't have a sex offenders registry so he is free to go and live where he wants, do what he wants, and if he can stay clean for five years, it will be as if nothing ever happened.  The courts consider a guilty plea accompanied by  the payment of "compensation" to the victims to be a sign of remorse, and are likely to award a suspended sentence for first-time offenders. As they say in Japan, jigoku no sata mo kane shidai (地獄の沙汰も金次第). Roughly translated, “Even at the gates of hell, it just depends on how much money you have.” Only roughly 4% of sexual assault cases in Japan are reported according to some sources. Prosecutors drop roughly 50% of sexual assault cases that actually make it to their desk. Politicians often get special treatment.  In the case of Shiori Ito, the journalist raped by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's biographer, politicians can even stop rape investigations before an arrest takes place.  It's unlikely that Shiiki will ever hold office again in Japan after being found guilty  for sexual assault. Perhaps, he is contemplating a move to the USA where that may be less of a political liability.

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