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Arrest spurs debate on naming sex offenders in Japan
January 1, 2005
Osaka - The arrest Thursday of a 36-year-old man suspected of abducting and
murdering a 7-year-old Nara girl in November has again raised questions over
whether communities should be informed when anyone with a history of sex crimes
is living among them.
Kaoru Kobayashi, an employee of a Mainichi Shimbun newspaper agent, was
arrested in connection with the kidnapping and killing of Kaede Ariyama, an
elementary school first-grader. The daily fired him following his arrest.
On Thursday night, investigative sources quoted him as confessing to both
abducting and murdering the girl, and it was learned that Kobayashi had a
pedophile past. He had been convicted in the past of molesting eight girls in
Minoo, Osaka Prefecture, for which he received a suspended sentence.
He later served three years in prison for attempting to murder a young girl by
strangling her.
Experts say that there are many cases of repeat offenses in sexual crimes, and
in some countries, including the United States and South Korea, the identities
of those with past records have been made public to give communities a
heads-up.
Authorities do not do so in Japan, largely due to concerns that such a move
could hamper past offenders' efforts to fit back into society.
"Was (the suspect) living so close by?" a 30-year-old woman living near
Kobayashi's one-room apartment in Sango, Nara Prefecture, asked after learning
of his arrest.
She said her daughter, a third-grader, passed by the apartment building almost
daily. Several nights earlier, she had seen him standing outside dressed only
in shorts, despite the cold, she said.
"If he had been repeating these crimes, I'm angered by the fact that he had
been living a normal life as though nothing had happened," the woman said.
The 28-year-old father of a 3-year-old girl in a neighboring town said he had
been really frightened by the murder.
"I wish names would be made public in cases where repeat offenses were likely,"
he said. In 2003, about 41 percent of suspects in molestation cases nationwide
were repeat offenders, according to a National Police Agency official, who did
not provide an actual number of offenders. This figure is about 5 percentage
points higher that the average figure for all suspects in Penal Code
violations, the official said.
In 1994, New Jersey began making public the names, addresses and photographs of
criminals after a 7-year-old girl was murdered by a man who had a history of
sexual offenses. Similar moves were adopted by other states.
In South Korea in 2001, the government posted information on a Web site on
about 170 people who were convicted of sexual crimes against girls younger than
18.
In Japan, there have been no moves to inform the public about people among them
with criminal records. However, Aichi Prefectural Police releases photographs
of suspects arrested for what they deem as heinous sex crimes, including serial
rape.
Professor Yuji Shiratori of Hokkaido University's faculty of law advised
caution toward introducing a U.S.- or South Korea-style system.
"There is the possibility that (an offender) may be stripped of the chance of
being able to return to society," he said.
"It would be better to instead establish a system of treatment that tries to
correct deviant behavior through psychological care."
But Tetsuya Fujimoto, a professor of criminology at Chuo University in Tokyo,
said it's time for Japan to consider information disclosure.
"We are very much behind in terms of alerting the general public," he said.
The Japan Times
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