A 33-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of molesting a female department store employee while pretending to be visually impaired.

According to police, the incident occurred on Feb 28. Fuji TV reported that Yosuke Mizokami visited a department store in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward, where he pretended to be blind and asked a 25-year-old female employee at a cosmetics counter for assistance to locate the men’s restroom. However, when they arrived, Mizokami stumbled to the floor and subsequently groped the woman’s breast as he was getting up. He then fled.

Police said a number of female sales clerks have reported similar incidents in department stores in Chuo Ward and Kanagawa Prefecture. Upon checking store surveillance camera footage of the February incident, police said Mizokami can be seen navigating the aisles with no difficulty. Furthermore, he appeared to be checking out his unsuspecting victim before approaching her.

Police said Mizokami, who lives in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture, was arrested on Monday. He has admitted to the charge and was quoted by police as saying: “I thought I would be treated kindly [by the female staff] if I pretended to be blind.”

© Japan Today