Thai woman arrested in Japan for brokering in 12-year-old girl sex work case

A Thai woman has been arrested in connection with a high-profile Tokyo case alleging that she arranged for a then 12-year-old Thai girl to engage in sex work, police said.

Punsiripanya Phakhaphon, 38, was arrested on Wednesday for alleged prostitution-related offenses. Police believe she acted as a broker, introducing Thai women to a private-room massage parlor that she used to manage. However, she denies the charges, claiming that she no longer worked there.

The girl came to Japan with her mother in late June of last year and is believed to have been left alone to perform sex work at the parlor located in Tokyo’s Yushima district.

A note, believed to have been written by the girl on June 28 — the day after she and her mother arrived in the country — was found in the parlor. The note said that she was sleeping alone at the facility and was shaking from fear.

The suspect, Punsiripanya, is believed to have worked with Masayuki Hosono, a 52-year-old Japanese man who ran the shop, to force the girl into sex work around June 30.

It is thought that Punsiripanya recruited around 30 to 40 women for the parlor after posting job offers on social media for Thai women. Around mid-June last year, she received an application from the girl’s mother.

In September, the girl contacted the Immigration Services Agency for help and has since returned to Thailand.

Her mother was deported from Taiwan to Thailand in December to face charges related to prostitution and immigration law violations. According to investigative sources, she said she made the decision for financial reasons.

Hosono was arrested for violating the country’s labor standards law by employing a child under the age of 15. He was recently served a fresh arrest warrant for violating immigration laws by forcing the girl and another Thai woman with overstayed visas to work.

© KYODO