The legal portal Bengo4.com reported that the Tokyo District Court has sentenced the former president of Gainax Studios, Tomohiro Maki, to two and a half years in prison for semi-criminalised indecent acts. Maki was arrested in December 2019 for indecent acts he committed in February 2019 with an aspiring voice actress, who was hired by a production company he managed.
Maki took pictures of the naked victim, supposedly to "prepare her for photo shoots in the entertainment industry. Maki also touched her inappropriately while reportedly "massaging her because her feet were swollen. At the time, Maki was the representative director of Gainax International, a talent agency affiliated with Gainax Studios. Maki became the company's representative director in October 2019, after the indecent acts in February 2019 but before his arrest in December of the same year. He had also been the director of the board of Gainax Studios since 2015.
The other board members of Maki and Gainax at the time of the arrest, as well as the company's auditor, resigned in December 2019. Thus, Gainax appointed Yasuhiro Kamimura, representative director of Groundworks, as its new representative director on December 28, 2019.
In response to the ruling, the victim said she was very naive when told that the nude photo sessions and inappropriate massages in Gainax's women's dormitory were necessary for the promotion. The victim, who was a minor at the time, added that there were times when she refused, but there were others when she was convinced to accept. She mentioned that a year has passed since Maki's arrest until sentencing, and she hopes that no one else will go through the same situation in the future. Finally, Kunitaka Kasai, the victim's lawyer, added that they ask people to respect the girl's anonymity and committed to taking legal measures to protect her honor and privacy.
Source: Bengo4.com via Hachima Kikō
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