Ex-LDP lawmaker referred to prosecutors over rape allegations

NAGOYA - Police on Monday referred a former Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker to prosecutors on suspicion of raping a woman he was dating in December, investigative sources said.

Tsuyoshi Tabata, 46, a former Bank of Japan employee who served as a House of Representatives member three times, has admitted to sexually assaulting the woman at her home while she was sleeping, after they had dinner together in Nagoya on Christmas Eve last year.

The former LDP lawmaker is also suspected of having committed an offence by taking photos of the woman in her 20s with his mobile phone while she was naked, the sources said.

Tabata had resigned from the LDP in February and from parliament in March after facing criticism from both the ruling and opposition parties over the scandal.

Source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190422/p2g/00m/0dm/043000c