The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 12 years in prison for abducting a teenage girl and keeping her in captivity for two years, rejecting his appeal and nullifying a lower court ruling that had given him a nine-year jail term.
Prosecutors had said the earlier decision in March last year was too light considering the vicious nature of the crime and had also appealed the ruling. They had demanded a 15-year prison term for Kabu Terauchi, who lured the girl into his car while she was on her way home from her junior high school in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, on March 10, 2014.
The high court acknowledged that Terauchi, 26, is able to take full criminal responsibility for his actions.