Three arrested for alleged habitual abuse of disabled Osaka care home resident who died

From The Mainichi

April 26 2024

OSAKA – Three employees at an Osaka Prefecture care facility were arrested on April 25 on suspicion of repeatedly assaulting a resident with physical and intellectual disabilities who died this March.

Arrested were caregiver Shingo Shirama, 26, as well as Vietnamese staffers Dong Dug Canh, 28, and Dang Thanh Duong, 24, of the Kishiwada Kosei Ryogoen care home for people with disabilities in the city of Kishiwada. Police suspect that the three became frustrated when the resident didn’t comply and resorted to violence.

According to Osaka Prefectural Police’s first investigation division, the three stand accused of assaults, including punches to the face and kicks, of the then-50-year-old resident on multiple separate occasions at the facility’s communal area in late February. It has also come to light that at least one of the suspects allegedly engaged in persistent physical abuse, such as hitting the man in the face and knocking him to the floor, then making the man stand back up and kicking him.

In one incident, one of the suspects allegedly hit the man in the face and head more than 10 times before pinching his ears and nose. No injuries to the victim were confirmed.

Shirama is quoted as telling investigators, “No matter how many times I told him (to do something), he would not listen, so I got frustrated, and punched and kicked him,” while Canh reportedly said, “He would act up when we were busy, so I hit him.” Duong has denied the allegations, saying, “I have no recollection of any of it.” Police also believe a fourth employee was involved in one or more of the alleged assaults.

According to police, the man was found limp at the facility on March 4 and was later confirmed dead. A doctor concluded illness as the cause of death, but on March 8, after his funeral had been carried out, the man’s family requested the care home to investigate how he died. The operator then concluded that he may have been abused by the staff members, reporting this to police on March 15.

According to a source close to the investigation, a security camera caught another staff member appearing to assault the man soon before his death. The staffer was found dead in Osaka Prefecture in late March, in an apparent suicide.

The alleged assaults by the arrested three were also revealed via analysis of security camera footage. After confirming the suspects apparently assaulted the man repeatedly over multiple days, police concluded that the acts were highly malicious and decided to apply the physical violence law, which carries heavier penalties than assault under the Penal Code.

The care home is operated by social welfare corporation Koseikai, based in the same city. The organization, along with another affiliated corporation, runs an elderly care welfare facility and after-school services in Osaka Prefecture.

Koseikai’s Chairman Mitsukuni Kawaguchi told a press conference on April 25, “I thought we were taking measures to prevent abuse, but they ended up being not enough and I apologize for that.” Asked about the arrested staff members, he said, “There were no apparent problems in their work attitudes.” He announced a plan for a third-party committee to recommend steps to prevent a recurrence.