The Yokohama Family Court has decided to send a 17-year-old to prosecutors over the suspected assault that killed a second-year high school student in Sagamihara in August, ruling that the case should be handled as a criminal prosecution, it was learned by Thursday.
The boy, a scaffolding worker, was referred to the family court on suspicion of injury resulting in death. The court also placed two other boys, aged 18 and 16, who were referred on suspicion of assault, in a first-category juvenile reformatory under a protective measure. Both decisions were dated Wednesday.
In explaining the decision on the 17-year-old, presiding judge Hidehiko Sato said it was appropriate to make him feel the seriousness of his responsibility through criminal proceedings and to deepen his self-reflection.
Under Japan's juvenile law, family courts normally handle cases involving minors, but can send a case back to prosecutors — a procedure known as a reverse referral — when the offense is serious enough to warrant adult criminal trial. The two younger boys were kept within the juvenile system.