U.S. Marine Accused of Sex Assault in Okinawa; Police Send Papers to Prosecutors, Notify Pref. Govt

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:32 JST, September 6, 2024

NAHA — The Okinawa prefectural police sent papers Thursday to the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office on a U.S. marine in his 20s stationed in Okinawa Prefecture on suspicion of rape resulting in injury for sexually assaulting and injuring an adult woman on the prefecture’s main island in June.

Also on Thursday, the police reported the outline of the case to the Okinawa prefectural government. This is the first time the prefectural police have notified the prefecture of a sexual assault case since the information sharing system was revised in July to require the central government and the prefectural police inform the prefecture of sex crime cases involving U.S. military personnel.

According to the police, the marine is alleged to have sexually assaulted and injured the woman, an acquaintance, in a building outside of a U.S. military base on Okinawa Island at night in June. He was reportedly not on duty at that time. The case came to light when the prefectural police received a report from a medical worker who had treated her.

The police have not said whether the suspect has admitted or denied the allegations. He is reportedly in the custody of the U.S. military.

Regarding cases involving U.S. military personnel, the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed in 1997 that the Defense Ministry would receive information on such cases from the Foreign Ministry or the U.S. military and then notify relevant municipalities. However, the Okinawa prefectural government has not received any information since July 2021, when a suspect was arrested for attempted rape.

In the prefecture, a series of sex crimes involving U.S. military personnel have been revealed since June, including nonconsensual sex with a girl under 16 years of age that occurred in December 2023 and nonconsensual sex with an adult woman resulting in injury that occurred in May. The Defense Ministry was not notified of these cases by the U.S. military and the Foreign Ministry did not provide information, based on the investigators’ decision not to disclose these cases out of consideration for the privacy of victims.

Since the prefecture and local residents have been increasingly dissatisfied with the situation, the central government and the prefectural police revised the information sharing system in July to include notifying the prefectural government of sex crime cases that are not disclosed to the public.

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki is scheduled to visit the United States from Sunday to Sept. 15 to lodge a protest with U.S. government officials including members of Congress over the series of sex crime cases and call on them to prevent further incidents.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference Thursday: “Cases involving U.S. military personnel cause great concern to local residents. We will urge the U.S. side to take thorough measures to prevent such a case from occurring again.