The Osaka High Public Prosecutor’s office on Tuesday arrested Kentaro Kitagawa, a 64-year-old former head of the Osaka District Public Prosecutor’s Office, on suspicion of what is directly translated as constructive forcible sexual intercourse.
The high prosecutor’s office did not reveal whether Kitagawa admitted to the allegation. It also did not disclose details of the case, including when and where it happened, citing the victim’s privacy.
An informed source said that the case is believed to have occurred when Kitagawa was head of the district prosecutor’s office from February 2018 to November 2019.
Kitagawa became a public prosecutor in 1985 and spent much of his career in the Kansai region. Before being appointed to the top post at the Osaka district prosecutor’s office, he served as head of the Naha District Public Prosecutor’s office, deputy head of the Osaka high prosecutor’s office and chief of the criminal investigation division of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office. Since retiring, he has assumed corporate auditor and other positions.
“It is very regrettable that someone who held a key prosecutor post was arrested,” said Tsunekazu Kobashi, deputy head of the Osaka high prosecutor’s office. “We will consider the final punishment after completing the investigation properly.”