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Sankei Shimbun, August 26th, 2011

Parents were arrested on the suspicion of abuse to their 7 year-old eldest son causing his death in Nishiyodogawa, Osaka.

On Aug. 26th, the Osaka Prefecture Nishiyodogawa Police Department arrested the suspects Masatomo Morita (44) of Owada, Nishiyodogawa-ku, Osaka City who is unemployed and his wife Ryoko Morita (29) on suspicion of throwing down their son (7) who is in the second grade at an elementary school, and causing his death. Because the body of the eldest son has multiple bruises and many marks, which appear to be cigarette burns, the police are investigating the possibility that the suspects abused him routinely.

It is alleged that the suspects assaulted their son by throwing and pushing down on Aug. 25th at around 7:00pm in their apartment, resulting in his death at around 4:00am.

According to the police, the suspect Masatomo admits to the charge that he threw down the son and that his wife also knocked him down, but the suspect Ryoko denies it. There is a possibility that the son was hit strongly on the head because brain hemorrhage is seen inside his head. Both suspects, the eldest son, the second son (4) and the third son (2) live in the suspect Morita's house. It is said that the eldest son is a child of the suspect Ryoko and her former husband.

According to the Osaka City children's consultation center and other sources, the eldest son has lived with both suspects since April though he was in a children's care institution until March this year. He had been commuting to a nearby municipal elementary school. The school informed the center that they had found a bruise on the son's forehead in June and he had explained, "I was beaten by my father".

The suspect Ryoko called the police at around 7:40pm on the 25th, and she said that when joking around and playing as professional wrestlers, her son's appearance had become strange and he had lost consciousness. The police that received the phone call listened to the circumstances from both suspects, and arrested them.

(Related article on page nine.)

Original article

(Page 9)
7 year-old's violent death
Crying heard every evening
Parents Abuse was Routine

Related articles:
# Sankei Shimbun (morning paper), August 27th, 2011
Suspected child-abuse in death of 7-year-old
Ten cigarette burns on hands and feet
Violence may have started with cohabitation.
Handling of child-abuse cases problematic says Mayer Hiramatsu.

# Sankei Shimbun (evening paper), August 27th, 2011
Authorities overlooked signs of abuse in case of a 7-year-old's death in Nishiyodogawa in Osaka.
Stepfather admits daily assault.
It may have escalated from June.

# Sankei Shimbun (evening paper), August 29th, 2011
Stepfather contradicts confession, claiming he didn't leave the 7-year-old unattended for a long period after committing abuse.

# Sankei Shimbun (morning paper), October 6th, 2011
Death of 7-year-old in Nishiyodogawa in Osaka

Too much trust was placed in the mother and the abuse was not detected.
The decision to return the child to the mother was made by a single child welfare officer.
The number of consultations related to child abuse has increased 50 times in the past twenty years, leading to staff shortage.

No meeting was held.
The child guidance center did not treat the report from the elementary school as abuse.