Osaka Group Home for Disabled Manager Admits to Sexually Abusing, Photographing Two Intellectually Disabled Women

By Barrier Free Japan, Extract from TBS

August 17 2024

A man who ran a group home for people with disabilities admitted to habitually sexually abusing two women who stayed there, also filming obscene scenes with a smartphone. In court, he repeatedly stated that “it was his own weakness that led him to commit the crime.” The prosecution denounced the crime as “treating the victims as an outlet for sexual desire and severely violating their personalities,” and sought a 10-year prison sentence.

According to the indictment, defendant Yuji Shiomoto (64) of Osaka Prefecture is charged with non-consensual sexual intercourse, non-consensual indecent acts, and quasi-forcible indecent acts for sexually assaulting two women who stayed at the group home for people with disabilities that he ran from 2022 to January of this year, including touching and licking their bodies and inserting his fingers into their genitals.

In addition, he is also accused of photographing the two women in lewd positions and taking photos of them on his smartphone.

The two victims were between 18 and 20 years old at the time of the incident. One has a moderate intellectual disability, and the other has a severe intellectual disability.

According to the prosecutor’s opening statement and closing argument, Shiomoto began sexually abusing a victim, who has a moderate intellectual disability, no later than around May 2022. At first, he only touched her hair, shoulders, and waist, but gradually escalated his crimes. He also took them out for drives during work hours and touched her body.

The victims, who have intellectual disabilities, entered a group home around September last year, and was assaulted by Shiomoto shortly thereafter.

The trial was held at the Sakai branch of the Osaka District Court on August 13th. During questioning, Shiomoto admitted to the charges against him, but said, “I don’t know why I committed the crime.” The most prominent statement was that “I think it was my weakness.”

“Looking back now, I don’t know why I did that at the time. If I had to say, I think it was because I was weak. I misunderstood that she didn’t say no, which meant I had consent. Now I think I couldn’t express my will because I had a disability. I had let my guard down. I had crossed a line that I shouldn’t have crossed.”

The prosecutor question the defendant why he committed the acts and chose these specific women.

Prosecutor: “Out of all the different residents, why did you choose Ms. A (a victim with severe intellectual disabilities) and Ms. B (a victim with moderate intellectual disabilities)?”

Defendant: “If I had to say, I would say that I had many opportunities to provide direct support (such as helping her change clothes), especially with Ms. B…”

Prosecutor: “Why did you go as far as to take the photos?”

Defendant: “…There wasn’t any big reason.”

Defendant Shiomoto had entered the rooms during the night shift at the group home and committed the crime, but explained that “rather than taking the initiative to work the night shift, I entered because there was no one else who could.”

Furthermore, Shiomoto also testified that he “stopped the sexual acts when the victims showed signs of refusal” and “did not take it to mean that he wanted them to stop all of the acts.”

In his closing argument, the prosecutor denounced the crime in the strongest terms, saying, “He did not take the victims’ wishes into consideration at all, and treated them as tools to satisfy his own sexual desires and as an outlet for his sexual desires, and it was an extremely heinous crime that severely violated their personalities.” “The fact that they suffered such severe damage at a sensitive time when they were approaching adolescence will inevitably have a huge negative impact on their healthy physical and mental development in the future.” He sought a 10-year prison sentence.

Shiomoto’s final statement was as follows:

“I am truly and truly sorry to everyone. I cannot even imagine what words I should say. I would like to spend the rest of my life reflecting on my actions and making as much amends as I can.”

The verdict will be handed down in September.