The Oita Family Court decided Tuesday to send a 15-year-old boy accused of killing three members of a neighboring family to a medical reformatory, saying he suffers from a serious behavioral disorder.
Judge Yasue Kuga said it is "essential" to reeducate the teen in an attempt to help him adapt to society, develop his immature mind and teach him human life is irreplaceable.
The boy's name is being withheld because he is a minor. "Taking into consideration that the boy suffers from a serious behavioral disorder, it is necessary to offer him special and individual treatment and education for a considerably long time," Kuga said.
The boy underwent a psychiatric evaluation at the request of his lawyers. Medical reformatories accommodate 14- to 26-year-olds with mental problems.
Serious behavioral disorders can cause children to conduct delinquent acts such as harming humans and animals without impairing their judgment, thus making them liable in criminal cases.
The boy, however, cannot be subject to criminal charges because, by law, only tose older than 15 can stand trial at a district criminal court.
The judge said violent scenes from computer games and movies "lowered (the boy's) resistance to murder" and played a role in the case.
She also pointed out the boy came from a troubled family who did not show him enough affection.
The boy was not initially aware of the seriousness of what he did but has recently begun reflecting on it, Kuga added.
The first-year high school student was arrested Aug. 14, shortly after the attack on the family of Kazumasa Iwasaki, a 66-year-old farmer, in the town of Notsu, Oita Prefecture, southwestern Japan, and was handed over to the family court Sept. 4.
Iwasaki's 66-year-old wife Sumiko, his daughter Tomoko, 41, and Tomoko's son Junya, 13, died from stab wounds inflicted by the boy.