By AMANE SHIMAZAKI/ Staff Writer
January 20, 2025 at 16:42 JST
Kazuya Nakamura, right, and Yoshihito Kawakami ask passers-by to sign a petition to abolish the Civil Code statute of limitations on child sexual abuse in Tokyo on Jan. 19. (Amane Shimazaki)
Former teen idols victimized by the predatory founder of the talent agency Johnny & Associates Inc. started a petition to abolish the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse in civil lawsuits.
Kazuya Nakamura, a former Johnny & Associates member, and others asked passers-by to sign the petition outside JR Ochanomizu Station in Tokyo on Jan. 19.
Under the Civil Code, victims of sexual abuse lose the right to seek compensation three or five years after they learn the identity of the perpetrator.
Even when the perpetrator is unidentified, there is a 20-year limit for seeking compensation in civil lawsuits from the time of the tortious act.
“It is hard to speak out about being sexually abused, and victims tend to accept it silently,” said Nakamura, 37. “We want to eliminate the statute of limitations to protect future children.”
He said he was sexually abused by Johnny Kitagawa when he was 15 but could not publicly discuss what he suffered until two years ago.
Lawyer Yoshihito Kawakami, who co-leads the signature-collection campaign with Nakamura, also participated in the event on Jan. 19.
The group, named “Kodomono Seihigai Jiko ni No!” (No to the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse), was formed in January last year.
The group plans to call on Diet members to work on new legislation to abolish the statute of limitations.
Signatures are being collected on the Change.org website.
Johnny & Associates was renamed Smile-Up Inc. two years ago after the sexual abuse scandal involving Kitagawa, who died in 2019, rocked the entertainment industry.
Smile-Up focuses on providing compensation to former Johnny & Associates members sexually abused by Kitagawa, while another company, Starto Entertainment Inc., was established to take over the talent management business from the agency.
The Code of Criminal Procedure was revised in 2023 to extend the statute of limitations on nonconsensual sex by five years to 15 years and on indecent assaults, also by five years, to 12 years.
If victims are under 18 years old, the years until they turn 18 are added to the time limits.
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