KYODO NEWS - Mar 19, 2020 - 17:26 | All, Japan

A Japanese man was sentenced on Thursday to 16 years in prison for physical abuse that led to the death of his 10-year-old daughter.

Yuichiro Kurihara, 42, was found guilty of causing the death of his daughter Mia in January last year by depriving her of sleep and nutrition at their family home in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, with the court defining the abuse as "inconceivably insidious and appalling."

"(The case) surpasses previous incidents in its maliciousness," said Presiding Judge Iwao Maeda. Mia was used as an "outlet" for Kurihara's "irrational frustration," he said.

Furthermore, "the defendant bore all responsibility" for making intervention difficult by applying pressure to the welfare center staff who tried to help the girl, Maeda added.

Prosecutors had sought an 18-year prison term for Kurihara, who expressed no emotion for most of the proceeding. He bowed to the presiding judge and the prosecutors afterward.

During his trial at the Chiba District Court, Kurihara expressed remorse and admitted to assaulting Mia but denied many of the accusations against him.

The court found him guilty on all charges of fatal child abuse during Thursday's ruling, calling his testimony "unreliable."

"They don't match the circumstances," Maeda said of Kurihara's denials. "You're selecting the most convenient parts (of the events) and defining them as truth."

Kurihara forced her to stand in the bathroom while showering Mia with cold water at some point between Jan. 22 and 24, 2019, according to the ruling.

A video on Kurihara's cellphone showed Mia bent over and begging for help as he continuously reproached her.

In the first trial proceeding in February, Kurihara denied the allegations, saying, "I never starved her or weakened her. Neither did I keep her standing, or shower her with cold water."

His defense lawyer had also argued that the death was a result of excessive discipline and that Kurihara did not abuse her on a daily basis.

Kurihara had faced charges of physically abusing Mia from December 2018 to January 2019 and beating his 33-year-old wife, Nagisa.

His wife was sentenced last June to 30 months in prison, suspended for five years with probation, for complicity in her husband's treatment of their daughter.

When handing down the ruling on the woman, the court said it was difficult for her to resist her husband's will due to his abuse and her mental condition.

"(Mia) was very kind and thoughtful, and loved by everyone," she said during the trial. "(Kurihara) may not have liked her strong sense of justice."

Mia and the family relocated from the mother's hometown of Itoman, Okinawa Prefecture, to the father's in Noda in July 2017 when she was 8 years old. According to the prosecution, the abuse began immediately after they moved.

In November 2017, Mia wrote in a school questionnaire that she was being bullied by her father and was subsequently taken into protective custody for seven weeks.

However, a local education board was found to have given a copy of Mia's questionnaire to Kurihara, who stated her claims were "lies."

After her period in protective custody ended, with a welfare center approving her return to her parents, there were no visits to her home by officials of either the center or the school to check on how she was being treated.

Related coverage:

Abusive father charged with causing death of young daughter

Mother of child abuse victim says father gave daughter "hell"

Girl in fatal case sent home from welfare despite signs of dad's sex abuse