73yo man held for molesting 14yo mentally-disabled girl on bus

TOKYO — Police have arrested a 73-year-old man on suspicion of sexual harassment, accused of kissing and fondling a 14-year-old girl on a bus as she was on her way to her public special-needs school in Ota Ward.

Police said Atsushi Yamagami accompanied students on the bus which picked up and dropped off the special-needs students, from April 2002 until late last month when he retired from his position. He is accused of kissing the girl and rubbing her breasts over a period of about 20 minutes on the morning of March 4, as the bus headed to the school, carrying about 20 students at the time.

The incident came to light after his actions were recorded by a video camera installed by the bus driver, who handed the tape to police at Ikegami police station. Police said the 47-year-old male bus driver first noticed Yamagami touching the student in May last year, but when he spoke to the management of the company that operated the bus – Toto Kanko Bus – he was asked how he felt about not working for them anymore. The driver then abandoned discussion with management and installed the camera without their knowledge.

Yamagami has admitted to the allegation and told police: “I did it because I thought she wouldn’t tell anyone about it. She’s cute, her body’s big and she was easy to take care of…I liked her.”

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Need more ppl like the bus driver in this world. And the management of Toto Kanko Bus… hope all your sons and daughters are born mentally-disabled.

> Smoke or be fined

BEIJING – OFFICIALS in a county in central China have been told to smoke nearly a quarter million packs of locally made cigarettes annually or risk being fined, state media reported on Monday.

The Gong’an county government in Hubei province has ordered its staff to puff their way through 230,000 packs of Hubei-produced cigarette brands a year, the Global Times said.

Departments that fail to meet their targets will be fined, according to the report.

‘The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax,’ said Chen Nianzu, a member of the Gong’an cigarette market supervision team, according to the paper.

The measure could also be a ploy to aid local cigarette brands such as Huanghelou, which are under severe pressure from competitors in neighbouring Hunan province, according to the paper.

China has 350 million smokers, of whom a million die of smoking-related diseases every year.

More than half of all male doctors in China smoke, but the government is now trying harder to get them to kick the habit in order to set an example for others, state media reported recently. — AFP

> 12yo Boy’s naked stroll

A 12-year-old boy may regret taking his cousin up on a $100 bet that he wouldn’t walk down the street naked – as he now faces a fine of up to $300.

The boy accepted his cousin’s dare to walk down the street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening – with just a piece of tape to protect his modesty.

Unfortunately for him, a police officer happened to be driving past as he went on his naked adventure. He was stopped, cited for disorderly conduct and returned to his mother.

A police spokesman said that he doesn’t know if the boy has collected on the bet, but pointed out that the fines for disorderly conduct can be as much as $300 – so he’s unlikely to profit from his escapade.