A current and a former officer in the Osaka Prefectural Police have been arrested on suspicion of gang-raping and confining a woman in her 20s.
Arrested were Daisuke Umemoto, a 36-year-old sergeant in the criminal investigation division at Mino Police Station, and Yu Mizobata, a 32-year-old former officer who lives in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, the police said Monday.
Umemoto and Mizobata are alleged to have conspired with several others in gang-raping a female acquaintance of Mizobata in a hotel in the city of Osaka on Dec. 17, 2014, and confining her there until she escaped the following morning.
Mizobata had solicited conspirators on an Internet bulletin board two weeks before the alleged rape, according to investigators. He was arrested Aug. 31. Umemoto's alleged involvement surfaced as the police investigated the case, they said.
Umemoto has allegedly admitted to the allegations, saying the victim had not consented to having sex, while Mizobata has reportedly partially denied the allegations, saying the woman was able to leave.
Mizobata left the police in March 2013 as a senior officer at Shijonawate Police Station after he faced disciplinary action for having an inappropriate relationship with a woman.
The victim had intended to meet with Mizobata at the hotel. After escaping from the hotel, she consulted with a hospital in Osaka Prefecture but did not report the case to the police until May. She has said she was raped by about six men, according to the police.
Umemoto and Mizobata were among about 700 personnel who joined the Osaka Prefectural Police in April 2006. But Mizobata has told investigators he had not met Umemoto prior to the alleged crime.
"I remember his name because I added it to the contact list on my mobile phone as a participant, but he is not my acquaintance," Mizobata was quoted by the police as saying.