KYOTO (Kyodo) A clergyman in Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture, was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing seven girls in his congregation from 2001 to 2004.
Tamotsu Kin, 62, who headed the Central Church of the Holy God, sexually abused the girls, ranging in age from 12 to 16, in his office on 22 occasions between March 2001 and September 2004, telling them they would languish perpetually in hell if they resisted, the court said.
"The girls believed they would go to hell if they resisted the defendant, who was the closest existence to God for them, and thus they had no choice but to obey him," presiding Judge Takeshi Uegaki said.