The Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court is seen in October 2020 in this file photo. (Mainichi)
TOKYO — A former worker at a day care center who has been acquitted of charges including assault against children sued the Japanese government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on Oct. 2 for about 86 million yen (approx. $582,000) in damages, insisting that the prosecutors and police concealed evidence that eventually led to his acquittal.
Hirotoshi Yoshitomi, 36, filed the lawsuit at the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court claiming that the concealment of evidence by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) delayed the clearing of his false charges and caused him mental distress.
Yoshitomi was arrested in February 2023 and indicted the following month for allegedly abusing two children at a certified day care center in the suburban Tokyo city of Hino, where he worked, between April and August 2020. He consistently maintained his innocence, and his acquittal was finalized by the Tachikawa branch of the district court in April 2025.
According to the ruling and legal complaint, the decisive factor for his arrest and indictment was the testimony of two colleagues at the time who claimed to have “witnessed the assault.” They reiterated this testimony in court. Before the trial, Yoshitomi’s lawyer had requested access to data from the colleagues’ Line messaging app, but the prosecution responded that “it does not exist.”
However, when a police officer who testified as a witness stated that data had been extracted from the colleagues’ smartphones, the defense renewed their request for disclosure. The judge recommended that the prosecution disclose the evidence. The submitted data revealed that the two colleagues had coordinated their accounts of when they witnessed the assault before being questioned by the MPD.
The court ruled that the colleagues’ testimonies were not credible and concluded, “There is no evidence of assault against the children.”
In the complaint, Yoshitomi’s side argues that the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office and the MPD intentionally concealed the Line data because it would be unfavorable to them at trial. Even if it was not intentional, they claim there was a significant oversight in not verifying the content.
Both the prosecution and the police stated that they have not received the complaint and will refrain from commenting.
(Japanese original by Kumiko Yasumoto, Tokyo City News Department)
AloJapan.com