TOKYO (TR) – A 63-year-old man suffering from terminal cancer has been sentenced to three years in prison for the sexual assault of a heavily intoxicated club hostess, despite his claims that she invited him into her apartment, reports Nagai Times (Oct. 23).
The incident occurred after the 26-year-old victim became blackout drunk while working at a cabaret club. The defendant, a food delivery driver on welfare, found her slumped on the ground in front of her apartment building.
After helping her gather her dropped belongings, the defendant followed her into her apartment, stripped off her clothes, and assaulted her. The crime was only discovered the next morning when the woman’s live-in fiancé returned home, found the strange man in their apartment, and immediately called emergency services.
Feigning lack of memory
During the trial, the defense argued that the victim either had the capacity to consent or that the defendant mistakenly believed she had agreed to sex. The defense went so far as to suggest the victim was feigning a lack of memory to hide a consensual encounter from her fiancé.
Taking the stand, the defendant claimed they had spoken for nearly 40 minutes at the building’s entrance and walked to a nearby convenience store.
“She opened the auto-lock door and gave a slight bow. At her room, she said ‘go ahead’ and gestured with her left hand, so I followed her in,” the defendant testified, claiming she made no attempt to resist when he removed her dress and bra. “She opened the door herself. I thought she had accepted me.”
Security camera footage
However, security camera footage completely dismantled his narrative. Video evidence showed the victim collapsed face down at the entrance, entirely unable to pick up her scattered wallet and smartphone. She was so intoxicated that it took her four minutes to climb a flight of 10 stairs and was incapable of unlocking the building’s front door herself.
While the defendant admitted to investigators during questioning that he inserted his fingers into the victim’s genitals because he was unable to achieve an erection — reportedly telling police he “didn’t want to disappoint her” — he retracted the statement in court. He claimed the confession was coerced during a lengthy interrogation.
Prosecutors noted that the defendant likely changed his story after learning of a June 2023 revision to the penal code, which now treats digital penetration with the same severity as intercourse.
DNA
In handing down the three-year prison term, the presiding judge dismissed the defendant’s excuses, noting that DNA from his saliva was found on the victim. The judge ruled that the woman was in a state of severe intoxication, rendering her entirely incapable of forming the intent to consent or resist.
The defendant, who has a criminal record of four prior convictions including habitual theft and trespassing, appeared in court in a wheelchair. Suffering from inoperable bile duct cancer, he looked emaciated and frail.
Following the reading of his sentence, he was wheeled out of the courtroom with his head hanging low, offering no visible reaction to his fate.