Arizona man pleads not guilty in Grand Island sexual assault case

GRAND ISLAND, Neb (KSNB) - A June trial in Grand Island is set for an Arizona man accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old Utah boy.

Tadashi Kojima, 26, Tucson, Arizona, Tuesday pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree sexual assault on a child, one count of third-degree sexual assault on a child and one count of resisting arrest. State statutes define first-degree sexual assault as involving penetration, while third-degree sexual assault involves sexual contact.

Grand Island Police arrested Kojima on Dec. 28 after officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle at a gas station just before 2 a.m. Officers found a child and adult sitting inside a white Toyota Avalon at the Git N Split near the Grand Island Regional Medical Center. At the time of the arrest the boy had been missing for two days.

Officers were advised that the boy was an abducted child from Utah who was likely with a stranger he met on the internet.

Court records indicate the boy’s father told police in Layton, Utah that his son had been communicating with someone while playing Roblox and then was invited to talk on a chatroom service. The teen was reported missing on Dec. 26 and was believed to be with the suspect that he had been talking to online.

Kojima is also charged in federal court in Utah with kidnapping and transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Federal court documents did not list a future court date for Kojima in Salt Lake City.

In Hall County District Court, Kojima is scheduled for trial June 12.

Kojima also used the aliases Aaron Zeman and Hunter Fox.

For now, Kojima remains in the Hall County jail on 10% of a $1 million bond.

The max penalty for a conviction of first-degree sexual assault on a child is life in prison.

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