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Sankei Shimbun, October 23rd, 2011

Mother's boyfriend was arrested on the suspicion of abuse to her son of second grade at a junior high school causing his death in Nagoya

Ms Tomomi Hattori (38, unemployed of Hikiyama, Meito-ku, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture) who lives in public housing called the police herself at around 6:40am on October 22nd, and she told them that her son wasn't moving after having fallen. Her eldest son Masami (14, Kanare municipal junior high school) was rushed to hospital, but died soon after arrival.

The mother's boyfriend admitted to the violence and so the Aichi Prefecture Meito Police Department arrested him on a charge of causing injury. The police changed the charge from violence causing injury to violence causing death, and are investigating further.

According to the police, the accused is Hideshi Sakai (37, an office worker, living in Amakoda, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya City). It is alleged that he kicked Masami around the chest area three times at 6:30am on the 22nd.

Hattori and her son Masami were living together. The accused Sakai visited there routinely. Sakai confessed, "I kicked him in a fit of anger because he did not admit he was napping while studying". Hattori says that she had been sleeping and was woken by the accused Sakai who was saying "Masami stopped moving."

After the incident, the Nagoya city child welfare center had a press conference on the 22nd and stated that it had received 3 reports since June from the junior high school that he seemed to have been mistreated. The center carried out around 20 home visits so far, and provided him with temporary protection in the city facilities twice.

Manabu Kanayama director of the center says "I had been thinking that the environment was improving steadily, but final outcome was the worst possible. I intend to investigate this case together with outside experts."

Original article