Fake Sleep Study Allows Man To Rape 100+ Women, Police Claim

A fake sleep study has allowed suspect Hideyuki Noguchi to allegedly rape more than 100 women, police in Japan claim.

Authorities noted that the 54-year-old started his study in 2012 with a newspaper ad seeking women from their teens “through their 40s,” CNN reports.

Once the women arrived at a destination disclosed to them by Noguchi, police claim that he drugged them, raped them, and then made videos of the incidents for distribution to pornographic websites.

The news site notes that he now faces charges of incapacitated rape in “some three dozen cases,” with more likely to follow.

Authorities also claim that Noguchi “has no medical training” and the sleep study “was merely a ruse to isolate women, drug them, assault them, and film the attacks, which netted him “around $100,000” over a roughly three-year period.

Noguchi would reportedly meet many of the women at hotels and provide them with sleeping pills and alcohol. When they were under, he would attack.

In a separate report from news.com.ua, a spokesman for police in Chiba, east of Tokyo, said officers “had confirmed at least 39 victims,” and that they came from several cities “including Tokyo, Chiba, Osaka, Tochigi, and Shizuoka.”

Noguchi himself estimates the number at just north of 100, but police also believe that it could be much higher.

The only way that police were able to catch him was that one of the women saw herself in one of the incriminating videos. From there, his fake sleep study ring started to unravel.

CNN adds that Japan has a 99 percent conviction rate, so there is a “very good chance” that Noguchi could spend the rest of his life behind bars based on the sheer amount of victims.

While Noguchi’s case isn’t anywhere near as high-profile, it is somewhat reminiscent — at least how it unraveled — of the recent Bill Cosby allegations.

Cosby has also been accused of drugging and raping women over a period of several decades. The comedian Hannibal Buress got the ball rolling by calling out Cosby in one of his concerts.

From there, dozens of women came forward with their own stories and accusations.

While Cosby doesn’t face any charges, he has been largely convicted in the court of public opinion, losing several projects as a result — just when his career appeared to be on the verge of a resurgence.

In the case of the fake sleep study, do you think that the perpetrator should spend the rest of his life behind bars?

[Image via Shutterstock]