Jan. 8 (UPI) — A U.S. Marine allegedly sexually assaulted an Okinawan woman in November, which is the fourth alleged sexual assault by U.S. service members in Okinawa in 2024.
Okinawa Prefecture Police on Wednesday notified the U.S. Marine Corps of the case against the unnamed Marine who is in his 30s, Stars & Stripes reported.
The Naha Public Prosecutors Office accuse the Marine of sexually assaulting and injuring an Okinawan woman who is over 20 years of age while inside a building in Okinawa in November.
The woman reported the alleged sexual assault immediately after she said it occurred.
Local police interviewed the woman and Marine and reviewed security camera footage before forwarding her complaint and a police report to local prosecutors.
“This is a matter of great concern to the people of Okinawa,” Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said in a statement. “We demand a firm response.”
No charges were filed as of Wednesday afternoon, but officials at the III Marine Expeditionary Force are aware of the matter and are cooperating with local authorities, Marine Corps spokeswoman 1st Lt. Isabel Izquierdo told Stars & Stripes in an email.
Officials at Okinawa’s Naha Public Prosecutors Office are weighing potential criminal charges in the matter.
The accused Marine is in the custody of the U.S. military.
Three other U.S. service members in 2024 were accused of attempting or carrying out sexual assaults of Okinawan women.
Senior Airman Brennon Washington last year was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in December 2023 and is serving a five-year prison sentence and hard labor. Washington has appealed his conviction.
A Marine lance corporal in June also was charged with attempted sexual assault, and another Marine lance corporal in September was charged with injuring a woman during a sexual assault.
Tamaki and other Okinawan officials fled formal complaints over the alleged sexual assaults with U.S. military commands, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and the Japanese government.
Okinawa is Japan’s southernmost island and is home to 32 U.S. military facilities.
Recent and past incidents of sexual assaults committed by U.S. service members in Okinawa has the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly calling for changes to agreements enabling the U.S. military installations to operate on the island.
Japanese prosecutors in 2016 convicted a U.S. military contractor of raping and stabbing to death a 20-year-old Okinawa woman and dumping her body afterward.
Former U.S. Marine Kenneth Franklin Shinzato pleaded guilty to the rape and murder, which prompted a protest by about 2,000 at the Marine Corps base in central Okinawa.
The protesters wanted U.S. military bases removed from Okinawa.
