US Marine in Okinawa referred to prosecutor for sexual assault

NAHA, Japan (Kyodo) — A U.S. Marine in his 20s in Okinawa Prefecture was handed over to prosecutors Thursday on suspicion of sexually assaulting and assaulting a woman in her 20s in late June, investigative sources said.

The case came after two other alleged sexual assaults on U.S. soldiers came to light in June in the prefecture, which is home to the majority of U.S. military facilities in Japan.

The latest incident occurred in the northern part of the prefecture's main island and was reported to police by a medical facility that the victim visited shortly after the alleged attack.

The suspect, who is in U.S. military custody, was voluntarily questioned by local police. According to the sources, police based the case on his social media posts and security camera footage around the alleged crime scene. Other sources said he denied the allegations.

The Okinawa government's Military Base Affairs Department expressed regret over the latest case and said it would call on the U.S. military to take steps to prevent such incidents from happening again.

The two earlier cases prompted the Japanese government to reconsider its policy on sharing information about crimes involving U.S. military personnel after the failure to report those crimes to the prefectural government angered local residents. The cases came to light through local media reports.

In March, a U.S. Air Force member was charged with allegedly kidnapping and sexually abusing a minor. In May, a U.S. Marine was arrested on suspicion of attempted rape with bodily harm.

The police did not disclose these cases at the time, citing the privacy of the victims, and the central government did not report them to the prefectural government.