Japanese schoolgirl forced to have sex with 60 men, man arrested

TOKYO - The 61-year-old head of a self-proclaimed human rights group has been arrested near Tokyo for allegedly pimping a schoolgirl to dozens of men, news reports said Friday.

The man, identified as Masaya Suzuki, was arrested in Ibaraki, northeast of Tokyo, on Thursday on suspicion of violating the anti-prostitution law, the Sankei Shimbun said on its website.

Police suspect the man deceived his 18-year-old victim into signing a prostitution contract in December and forced her to have sex with some 60 men over three months, the daily said.

The suspect set up a non-profit organisation (NPO), named "Ibaraki human rights protection association," claiming that the group was intended to support "sound child-rearing."

But police suspect the group was established only in name, as Suzuki reportedly told them: "I registered it because NPO has a good image."