The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a former industry ministry bureaucrat to 10 years in prison for drugging six women with sleeping pills and then raping or groping them in 2022.

Dai Sato, a 34-year-old former bureaucrat at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, gave six women in Tokyo a beverage mixed with sleeping pills so that they wouldn't be able to resist his advances, and then sexually assaulted them at a hotel or an internet cafe, the ruling said.

He raped two of them but was unsuccessful in his attempts to have intercourse with the other four individuals because they were too drunk to have sex or for other reasons, it said, adding that he instead groped them or ejaculated in the victim’s underwear.

After the defendant pleaded guilty at his first court hearing in May last year, Sato was dismissed from the ministry on disciplinary grounds, according to Jiji. In total, Sato carried out criminal acts on seven occasions from July to December 2022, including attempting to rape and assault one of the victims twice.

The defendant, who wore a wrinkled suit and a mask in court on Monday, appeared unfazed by the verdict.

Presiding Judge Yoshihisa Nakao condemned the defendant, saying that the use of the drugs to deprive the victims of their ability to consent was “both dangerous and an inhumane act that disregards the dignity of the victims.”

“The emotional distress the victims suffered, including feelings of disgust and anxiety, was grave,” he said. “The defendant offers various explanations for his motive, but even taking the defendant's statements into account, there is nothing to justify his selfish actions.”

However, the judge also took into consideration the fact that he had shown remorse to his victims, that his parents had appeared at the court and indicated their willingness to help rehabilitate the defendant, and that he did not have a prior criminal record.

Prosecutors had sought a 13-year prison term for Sato.

According to the ruling, the defendant had paid compensation to five of his victims — with three of them having reached settlements and two of them having forgiven him. One of his victims, however, has refused to settle the case.

The sleeping drug that the defendant used is commonly taken by those with insomnia. Official U.S. guidance for the drug recommends staying in bed for seven to eight hours after taking the tablet.