A high court judge already convicted of paying for sex with schoolgirls admitted to all charges against him during the first session of his impeachment trial at the Diet on Thursday.

"I admit everything. I think it is natural that I be dismissed," Yasuhiro Muraki, 43, a Tokyo High Court judge, told the session, presided over by Nobuyuki Hanashi, a senior House of Representatives member of the Liberal Democratic Party.

"I apologize from the bottom of my heart to the Japanese public as my criminal actions severely damaged trust in the judiciary, especially judges," he added.

Muraki became the sixth member of the judiciary in 20 years to be impeached and could become the fifth judge to be dismissed following a 1981 case where a former Tokyo District Court judge was accused of accepting bribes in connection with a golf course bankruptcy case. His case is the first in which an impeachment trial followed a conviction. According to an Aug. 27 Tokyo Court decision against Muraki, which has already been finalized, the judge was found guilty of violating the anti-juvenile prostitution law by having sex with 14-year-old schoolgirls at Kawasaki hotels in January and April for which he paid money. He was sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for five years.

His impeachment trial opened after the Judges Indictment Committee classified Muraki's case as misconduct that diminished the prestige of judges.

After his arrest, he tendered his resignation and said he would not argue against the allegations during his impeachment trial. The next hearing is scheduled to be held Oct. 10.