A 15-year-old boy accused of beheading a younger schoolboy in a crime that stunned Japan was convicted Friday of the killing and other assaults and sentenced to a juvenile prison.
The boy, whose name has been withheld under Japan's juvenile law, was convicted of assaults on five children, two of whom died, the Kobe Family Court said. He was sentenced indefinitely to a juvenile prison, where he will be treated for mental illness.The decapitation of 11-year-old Jun Hase horrified Japanese, who were even more shocked when a teen-ager was arrested for the grisly murder. Hase's mutilated head was found outside the front gate of a school on May 27 with a note stuffed in its mouth calling police "fools."
In announcing today's decision, Judge Yasuhiro Igaki said the teen-ager had severe mental illness and must be treated at a correctional institution with psychiatric facilities.
But the court said that despite the mental illness, he was fully capable of understanding what he did was wrong and should take responsibility for it.
"There has been no word of regret from the boy," the ruling said. "Even now, the boy is justifying his ideas, and it is very likely that he would develop more serious psychiatric disorders in the future."
The boy reportedly has admitted to killing Hase as well as other assaults. He also bludgeoned a girl to death before the beheading, but he claimed it was an "experiment" and did not mean to kill her, the ruling said. It said he also attacked three other girls.
"We deeply apologize that this has plunged so many people into fear and uncertainty," the convicted teenager's parents said in a statement read by his lawyer. "Now it is our responsibility to correct him."