Father who locked disabled son in a wooden cage receives suspended sentence

Written with extracts from The Asahi Shimbun

June 27th 2018

Disabled people protest the verdict (NHK)

Yamasaki Yoshinaga who confined his disabled eldest son (42) in a cage at their in Hyogo prefecture was given a suspended sentence on the 27th June.

The judge said, “He did not carefully misrepresent the dignity of the victims,” ​​and was sentenced to three years imprisonment suspended.

According to the ruling, Yamasaki with his wife, who is now deceased, from April 28, 2013 to January 21 this year – for about 4 years and 9 months – placed their their eldest son who had severe intellectual disability is approximately once every 2 days in wooden cage (height of about 1 meter, width of about 1.8 meters, depth of about 0.9 meters) provided in an adjacent prefab where he was made to live for about 12 hours, locked with a padlock.

The ruling said, “The victim was forced to spend in a narrow cage that can not stand for a long time and excretion was also made with sheets in the cage,” he said.

“The defendants were not actively seeking other means such as entering a facility,” he said.

Meanwhile, “It is a factor that society as a whole is not aware of as society as a need for people who need assistance”, and he decided not to imprisonment but a give with suspended sentence.