When a 36-year-old man was arrested late last year for the kidnap-murder of a girl in Nara, his criminal past raised a puzzling question in the public mind: How could a repeat offender be allowed to keep on committing the same crime?

The arrest of newspaper deliveryman Kaoru Kobayashi on suspicion of abducting the 7-year-old girl with intent to molest was not his first for sex offenses against children.

In 1989, he was given a suspended sentence for molesting eight young people. In 1991, he was sentenced to three years in prison for the near strangulation of a 5-year-old girl.

Crime experts say the Japanese correctional system is simply not up to the task of dealing with sex offenders, who often repeat their crimes in a pattern of escalating savageness.

Last year saw other repeat offenders carry out crimes.

A 39-year-old man who had served three prison terms for rape and other offenses was indicted in August for kidnapping, raping and killing a teenage girl in Ehime Prefecture.

According to police records, 9.8 percent of those arrested or referred to prosecutors in 2002 on suspicion of rape or molestation had committed similar offenses in the past.

Junko Fujioka, a psychology professor at Osaka University's graduate school who also counsels sex offenders, points to problems in Japan's correctional system, which too often places priority on keeping inmates busy with work.

``(Inmates) often leave prison before their sexual problems are corrected,'' she says.

According to the Justice Ministry, some prisons do offer counseling to convicted sex offenders. But unlike with drug addicts, whose rate of recidivism is particularly high, there are no systematic correctional programs for sex offenders.

``Because there are so few cases of pedophilia, for example, we can't grasp the full picture,'' said a ministry official in charge of corrections and rehabilitation.

``We take a case-by-case approach, such as offering treatment at prison hospitals if someone is truly ill.'' By contrast, each U.S. state has programs to rehabilitate sex offenders serving time. It is an approach that one study found lowers recidivism rates by 30 percent.

In Britain, inmates get up to a year of training at a special facility. Those who do not complete the program are ineligible for parole.

``Prisons must offer effective programs to prevent recidivism,'' Fujioka says. ``It's the only way to keep any more people from becoming victims.''

One controversial anti-recidivism proposal would make information on inmates available to communities.

Among its supporters is Hidemichi Morosawa, a professor of criminal law policy and victimology at Tokiwa University's graduate school.

Citing U.S. and European attempts to use the data to reintegrate former convicts into society, Morosawa said, ``We need a system to build a database on criminals that can be shared by police, prosecutors, courts and psychiatrists.''

But Yoji Morita, a professor of criminal sociology at Osaka Shoin Women's University, says Japan isn't yet ready for data sharing, fearing it could lead to discrimination against those with criminal records.(IHT/Asahi: January 5,2005)