The move was inspired in part by the November kidnap-murder of a 7-year-old elementary school girl in Nara Prefecture. The man arrested in the crime has a record of molesting girls.

Public outrage over the Nara slaying prompted the Justice Ministry to provide the NPA with information on the addresses of those who have served prison time for sex crimes involving physical violence against children.

The new system will cover sex offenders who have been convicted on at least one of four charges involving children under 13 -- rape, rape and robbery, sexual molestation and abduction with the intent of molestation.

According to NPA officials, roughly 100 to 200 people will probably be added to the tracking system each year.

Among the 466 people accused of sex crimes against children last year, 120, or 25.8 percent, had previously been involved in some form of sex crime involving violence, according to an NPA survey released the same day.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 12, 2005
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