A 34-year-old police officer in Nagano has been arrested on suspicion of statutory rape involving a teenage girl he met on a social media app.
The officer, a senior cop assigned to a police box under Nagano Central Police Station, was taken into custody on September 27.
Police say he traveled to Miyagi Prefecture in June 2024 to meet the girl at a rental room. Investigators allege he had sexual contact with her even though he knew she was under 16 and more than five years younger than him — which meets the threshold under Japan’s revised statutory rape law.
The two first connected through an SNS app before he made the trip.
The case didn’t come out right away. It surfaced in July 2026 while the officer was being questioned over a completely separate disciplinary issue. That investigation eventually led to this arrest.
This isn’t an isolated embarrassment for Nagano Prefectural Police. Five officers have already faced disciplinary action in 2026.
Chief Inspector Koichi Hameda called the case “truly regrettable” and said the force would re-examine itself, tighten discipline, and try to restore public trust. Officials also said they plan to impose severe disciplinary measures once the investigation is finished.
A cop meeting a minor online and then crossing prefecture lines to see her is about as straightforward a trust-breaker as it gets. The fact that it only came out because of another internal problem makes it worse.