This photo shows documents released by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology summarizing the content of disciplinary actions and damage trends for teachers disciplined for sexual misconduct and other offenses in fiscal 2019. (Mainichi/Akira Hattori)

       OSAKA -- A former instructor and coach of a baseball team at a private high school in this west Japan city was served with a fresh arrest warrant on Sept. 13 on suspicion of forcible sexual intercourse resulting in injury, a source close to the investigation revealed.

       According to the source, Yuki Mizuochi is suspected of sexually assaulting a male baseball club member when he was alone with the student in November 2020, while serving as a coach. The male student reportedly got sick after the incident and developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

       In August, Mizuochi, 31, was arrested on suspicion of indecency through compulsion for touching the lower body of another male team member, and was later indicted.

       In response to the school's investigation, a total of 14 baseball club members reported indecent acts by Mizuochi. As Osaka Prefectural Police proceeded to interview the students, suspicions that the coach sexually assaulted the male student surfaced.

       According to the school, Mizuochi was posted there as an instructor in April 2020 and became the coach of the baseball team. About four months later, he allegedly began engaging in obscene acts with members of the team, calling them to places such as a facility near the field by telling them that "I'll give you a massage." Some of the team members were inappropriately touched multiple times. Mizuochi admitted to the allegations, telling police, "it was just a joke, but it escalated." He was dismissed from the school on disciplinary grounds in March 2021.

       Meanwhile, after the incident involving the baseball team came to light, it was discovered that several students at another school where Mizuochi had been employed in the past had begun to testify about his indecent acts against them. The prefectural police are investigating the details of the cases, considering the possibility that Mizuochi may have been sexually abusing his students on a regular basis.

       (Japanese original by Kumiko Yasumoto, Yusuke Kori, and Yuta Kumamoto, Osaka City News Department)

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