The mayor of a city in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, has filed a complaint with police against the head of a nursery over his alleged cover-ups of suspected child abuse cases involving its workers.

The mayor of Susono City, Murata Harukaze, submitted the complaint on Monday against Sakurai Toshihiko, who heads Sakura Hoikuen -- a private nursery school authorized by the local administration.

Japan's top government spokesperson says the government will act swiftly on the child abuse cases revealed at a nursery.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Matsuno Hirokazu spoke to reporters on Monday about the cases at the Sakura Hoikuen nursery in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture, in central Japan.

Police in central Japan have arrested three former nursery school teachers on suspicion of assault on young children at the school.

The suspected assaults occurred when the three women were working for Sakura Hoikuen in Susono City, Shizuoka Prefecture. They all quit by the end of November.

A court in Japan has sentenced a man to 16 years in prison for the fatal abuse of his 10-year-old daughter.

The Chiba district court on Thursday handed down the prison term to Yuichiro Kurihara for inflicting injuries to his daughter Mia that resulted in her death.