Underwear-snatching cop handed prison sentence

A police officer convicted of stealing women's underwear and groping a teenage girl was Wednesday sentenced to 2 1/2 years' imprisonment.

Handed the sentence at the Hachioji Branch of the Tokyo District Court was Keisuke Kamihara, a former senior officer in the Metropolitan Police Department's No. 7 riot police unit.

"His awareness of the norms as a police officer was numbed, and his criminal responsibility is great," Judge Kazunobu Yamazaki said as the officer was handed the sentence.

Yamazaki was convicted of sneaking into a woman's apartment in the Tokyo city of Tachikawa in October last year and stealing 17 items, including underwear. He also stole underwear and cash in five thefts between March and October last year, according to the ruling. In February last year, the 27-year-old officer also fondled the breasts of an 18-year-old girl on a road in Tachikawa and snatched a bag from her valued at 25,900 yen, the ruling said.

下着ドロ：元警視庁巡査長に懲役２年６月の実刑　

　アパートに侵入し女性の下着を盗むなどしたとして、窃盗や強制わいせつ罪などに問われた元警視庁第七機動隊巡査長、神原圭介被告（２７）＝懲戒免職＝に対し、東京地裁八王子支部は２６日、懲役２年６月（求刑・懲役３年６月）の実刑判決を言い渡した。山崎和信裁判官は「警察官としての規範意識がまひしており、刑事責任は重大だ」と指摘した。

　判決によると、神原被告は昨年１０月、東京都立川市曙町にあるアパートの女性の部屋に忍び込み、下着など１７点を盗むなど、昨年３～１０月に５件の盗みをして現金や下着など計１４万３０００円相当を盗んだ。昨年２月には、立川市の路上で、女性（１８）の胸を触り手提げバッグ（時価２万５９００円相当）を奪った。【神澤龍二】

March 26, 2008

Mainichi