The suspect allegedly committed the acts involving a boy under the age of 18 in an onsen inn in the central prefecture of Niigata. -- PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A Singaporean man, 55, has been arrested in Japan under suspicion of committing indecent acts, a spokesman from the Niigata Prefectural Police Headquarters told The Straits Times.
The suspect, who was not named, allegedly committed the acts involving a boy under the age of 18 in an onsen inn in the central prefecture of Niigata.
The Singaporean is suspected of touching the teenager, including his genitals, multiple times without consent, according to local media reports.
The incident is said to have occurred between 4pm and 5pm on May 14 at a hot spring facility in Tagami town, Niigata, reported the Niigata News.
The suspect was nabbed at Niigata train station at around 9.30pm on May 16. A day earlier, someone related to the male victim filed a police report.
The suspect was reportedly on vacation from Singapore and has denied the charges.
“I only put my hand on the left shoulder of the seated boy to get out of the bath, I did not commit any indecent act,” he was reported to have told the police.
Police investigations are ongoing.
ST has contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for more information.
In a previous case involving a Singaporean’s misdemeanours in a Japanese public bath, former diplomat Sim Siong Chye was convicted in 2024 of filming a naked boy at a public bath in Tokyo.
He was sacked by the MFA in April, having been fined 300,000 yen (S$2,700) by a Tokyo court. - The Straits Times/ANN
