THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 12, 2024 at 17:51 JST
Kentaro Kitagawa, former chief of the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
OSAKA--A former chief district prosecutor was indicted on July 12 on charges of sexually assaulting an inebriated subordinate in 2018.
Osaka prosecutors announced the indictment of Kentaro Kitagawa, 64, a lawyer in Kyoto Prefecture, on charges of semi-forcible sexual intercourse.
He is accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was unable to resist when he was the top prosecutor at the Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office.
According to investigative sources, he denied the charges, saying he "thought he had consent" during the interrogation after his arrest.
According to the indictment, he sexually assaulted the subordinate who was intoxicated at his official residence in Osaka on Sept. 12-13, 2018.
According to the sources, Kitagawa drank alcohol with his colleagues at a restaurant and then went to his residence with the woman to continue drinking.
The Osaka High Public Prosecutors Office arrested Kitagawa on June 25 and continued its investigation.
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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