A 38-year-old Thai woman residing in Japan was arrested Thursday for allegedly acting as a broker in a case involving a young Thai girl who was forced to perform sexual services at a massage parlor in Tokyo, according to media reports.
In September, the girl, who was 12 at the time, escaped and sought help from Tokyo immigration authorities, saying she was forced to provide sexual services after being brought to the massage parlor from Thailand by her own mother.
On Thursday, the Metropolitan Police Department said it arrested Punsiripanya Phakhaphon, a former employee at the massage parlor, for allegedly recruiting the girl to offer sexual services at the parlor without confirming her age.
The woman is thought to have been in charge of hiring for the parlor, having recruited between 30 to 40 Thai women both in Japan and abroad, according to the Asahi Shimbun.
The suspect denies she was involved in the crime, as she is no longer working at the parlor, the paper reported.
The girl＊s mother and the suspect had previously worked together at the parlor and the mother had contacted her in June saying that she wanted to work there again.
In late June, the mother brought the girl, who had a visitor visa, to the parlor and subsequently left Japan without her daughter. Over the span of a month, the girl reportedly provided sexual services to around 60 customers.
Since the case came to light, Tokyo police have arrested the Japanese owner of the parlor, Masayuki Hosono. The girl＊s mother was also arrested by Thai police in December on various charges, including human trafficking.
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