National News

12-year-old apologizes in custody for abducting, killing 4-year-old boy

NAGASAKI (Kyodo) - Police said July 9 that a 12-year-old junior high school student has admitted to murdering a 4-year-old boy, Shun Tanemoto.

Police took the boy into custody earlier that day after identifying him from security camera footage taken near the garage where Tanemoto's body was found.

Investigators said that when asked why he abducted the boy, the student alluded to wanting to molest him.

"I regret it," police quoted the boy as saying. "I want to say sorry to Shun's father and mother."

Tanemoto's parents released a statement in which they said their "hearts were boiling with rage" and that even if the suspect is a junior high school student, he should be subject to capital punishment.

"We would like to say this to the perpetrator: Are you really repentant? More than a week has passed since the incident, and there was plenty of time to turn yourself in," the statement said. "We sincerely hope that you will pay for your deeds for the rest of your life."

Investigative sources said police believe the 12-year-old may have also been involved in other recent assaults targeting young boys.

Under the Criminal Code, children under 14 who are suspected of having committed crimes are not held criminally responsible. The boy was transferred to a child welfare center July 10 in line with the Child Welfare Law, where the case was turned over to a family court the same day.

The student, who is in his first year at a junior high school in the city, has never missed a day of school, even after the murder took place, according to his principal. He always achieved top grades, his teachers added.

On July 2, Tanemoto's naked and battered body was found in a pool of blood beside a multilevel parking garage, roughly 4 km from the Nagasaki electronics store where he went missing. Tanemoto, who had gone to the electronics store with his parents, vanished shortly after telling them he was going to its video game section

Police said they believe the boy was thrown to his death from the top of the eight-story garage.

Video footage captured Tanemoto walking near the garage with a male wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, black pants and white shoes, an outfit resembling the summer uniform of a junior high school in the city.

Investigators identified the male from markings on the left breast of his shirt that matched the school's emblem and from footprints found on the roof of the garage.

Shukan ST: July 18, 2003

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