Tokyo police have arrested a 21-year-old university student for allegedly engaging in indecent acts with an 11-year-old child who had run away from home.
Shingo Sakai, known on social media as the "former king of Toyoko," frequently visited the so-called Toyoko area in Tokyo's Kabukicho entertainment district, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. Toyoko refers to the area next to the Toho Cinemas complex where lonely young people flock.
Sakai has remained silent on the allegations against him, the police said.
On April 10, Sakai allegedly took the sixth grader to a hotel and engaged in indecent acts after chatting up the girl who was visiting Toyoko.
According to the police, the girl ran away from her home in the Kanto region earlier on the day, as she had troubles regarding her friends and family. She was approached by Sakai and a few other people when she was looking for a place to stay.
After being alerted by the girl's mother, police found the girl walking with another man in the Toyoko area and took her into protective custody.
The girl said that it was the first time that she visited the area.
According to the police, the girl said she had always wanted to visit Toyoko because she heard that many young people with nowhere to go gathered there and thought that everyone there was helping each other out.