Former Softbank player sentenced to 16 years in prison, indecently assaulted 10 women, causing death - Yokohama District Court

The jury trial of Hayato Mishima (44), a former professional baseball player for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, who was charged with indecently indecently causing injury to 10 women, was held at the Yokohama District Court on the 22nd. Presiding Judge Takuo Sato sentenced him to 16 years in prison (18 years in prison), stating that his ``responsibility is grave and extremely heavy.''

Presiding Judge Sato pointed out that although there was no security camera footage to support the incident, the female victim's testimony was "rational and highly reliable." In both cases, the suspect was targeting women who were alone, and he harshly criticized the suspects, saying, ``There is no reason why they should be dismissed as a result of selfish desires,'' and ``Even though they served time in prison (in the past), they repeated the same type of incidents without being rehabilitated.I don't feel any sense of guilt.''

According to the ruling, between August 2020 and February to June 2025, Mishima assaulted, threatened, and committed obscene acts against 10 women in their teens and 20s who were walking alone on the streets of Yokohama.

Mishima joined SoftBank in 2009 and played as a catcher under the name Hayato Dogami. In 2012, he was arrested on suspicion of forcible indecency and his contract was terminated, and he was subsequently sentenced to two years in prison, which he served.