The Yonago branch of the Tottori District Court on Wednesday sentenced a 30-year-old unemployed woman to three years in prison for snatching a newborn baby girl from a hospital in Yonago, Tottori Prefecture.
Tatsuyo Kamoda, of Sakaiminato, pleaded guilty to abducting the infant Jan. 8 to make her lover, who was married to another woman, believe that she had given birth to his baby. The child, born six hours before the abduction, was found safe six days later at Kamoda's home.
In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Akira Adachi said, "Her action was motivated by her own selfish desire and fear of being abandoned by her adulterous lover after her fake pregnancy was exposed."
Adachi said that although the hospital had inadequate management, Kamoda committed a "daring and vicious crime" that endangered the baby's life.
The judge also said it was natural for the baby's parents to seek stricter punishment in light of their anguish.
Public prosecutors had demanded four years in prison for Kamoda, and her counsel asked for a suspended term as she has been extremely contrite.
Neither the prosecutors nor the defense counsel is planning to appeal.
According to the ruling, in March 2000 Kamoda began feigning pregnancy in hopes of prolonging the relationship with her lover.
The court said Kamoda snatched the baby girl of Ken Matsumoto and his wife, Kyoko, from an incubator at Hakuai Hospital in Yonago. The baby was found unharmed at Kamoda's home on Jan. 14.