JAPAN
Mainichi Daily News
KYOTO -- Prosecutors on Friday demanded that a court sentence a priest to 20 years in prison for more than 20 cases of raping teenage girls.
Tamotsu Kin, 62, founder of the Seishin Chuo Church in Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture, raped or attempted to rape seven girls, aged 12 to 16 years old, at his church on 22 occasions from March 2001 to September 2004, according to prosecutors.
He often told the girls that if they resisted him, they would suffer in hell in an attempt to force them to accept his attacks.
"Taking advantage of his religious status, he treated young followers as playthings. The cases mentioned in the indictment are probably only the tip of the iceberg," a prosecutor told the Kyoto District Court. "The victims suffered incurable mental anguish. He only said he didn't deny the allegations, but he hasn't stated any facts."