José Manuel Torres Yake, a 33-year-old Peruvian wanted for child sexual abuse in Peru, was arrested and charged with Airi's murder a week later.
Kenichi Kinoshita stated: "I was deeply shocked when I was told by police that she was probably murdered," her father said in an address during the funeral, "I feel animosity toward the person who committed the crime.
By 29 November, the police sought the arrest of José Manuel Torres Yake, a 33-year-old Peruvian who lived in an apartment in Hiroshima near where Kinoshita's body was found.
On 4 July 2006, the Hiroshima District Court sentenced Torres to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting and killing the girl, citing his haphazardness.
[5] Kinoshita's death caused a moral panic among parents in Japan, which had been thought to be a "safe society", and led to greater suspicion against otaku subculture in the country.
[6] The Japanese media had suspected that the criminal was an otaku while Kinoshita's murder was still being investigated, though Torres' arrest and conviction proved this to be false.