Photo/Illutration Kentaro Kitagawa, former chief of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

OSAKA—A former chief district prosecutor denied allegations he sexually assaulted an inebriated subordinate, saying he believed he had obtained her consent, sources said.

“I thought we had an agreement,” the sources quoted Kentaro Kitagawa, 64, as saying during questioning.

Kitagawa headed the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office from February 2018 to November 2019.

While at the post, he and several colleagues drank alcohol beverages at a pub one day. Kitagawa continued to drink with the female subordinate at his official residence, where the suspected attack occurred, according to sources.

He is suspected of engaging in a sexual act with a person who was unable to resist due to the heavy influence of alcohol.

After he was arrested by the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office on June 25, Kitagawa repeatedly said, “I don’t remember well.”

Kitagawa is currently being held at the Osaka Detention House.

His detention period expires on July 5, but it can be extended by a maximum of 10 days while prosecutors consider whether to charge him or not.

Kitagawa became a prosecutor in 1985.

He served as deputy chief prosecutor of the Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office and held senior positions at the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office before heading the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office from 2018.

He resigned as a prosecutor in November 2019 before reaching the mandatory retirement age. He has served as a lawyer since 2020.

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