US Marine gets 7 years in prison for sexual assault in Japan

The sexual assault case is the latest to strain relations between residents of Japan’s Okinawa Islands and U.S. servicemembers.

Okinawa trial: US soldier charged with sexual assault of minor

A hearing is being held in Japan against an American soldier accused of sexually assaulting a minor in Okinawa.

Aljazeera

A U.S. Marine was sentenced in a Japanese court to seven years in prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in Okinawa last year, the latest case to spark outrage among residents on the Japanese islands that have long had a heavy American military presence.

Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 22, was accused of injuring a woman in her 20s while attempting to rape her in May 2024, according to Kyodo News. He denied the allegations and his attorney told the outlet he is considering appealing the ruling.

While handing down the sentence, the judge said the victim’s account was “precise and authentic,” noting that she reported the incident to both the police and a friend shortly after the attack occurred, Kyodo News reported. The judge also said injuries to the woman’s eyes matched a forensic expert’s assessment of the case.

Prosecutors had sought a 10-year sentence while Clayton’s defense team proclaimed his innocence and said the woman’s testimony was not credible, pointing to her alleged “intoxication” and inconsistencies in her recollection, according to Star and Stripes, a U.S. military newspaper.

The sexual assault case is the latest to strain relations between U.S. servicemembers and residents of the Okinawa islands, a Japanese archipelago where nearly 30,000 active U.S. soldiers are based, making it the largest concentration of U.S. forces in Japan.

In December, a U.S. Air Force member was sentenced to five years in prison for kidnapping and raping an underage girl in Okinawa. In 2016, the rape and murder of a Japanese woman in Okinawa by a U.S. military contractor sparked outrage and large protests.

These incidents have drawn comparisons to an infamous 1995 case in which three U.S. servicemembers were convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl on her way home from school in Okinawa. The case triggered massive demonstrations and led to talks to reduce U.S. military presence on the islands.

U.S. military leaders have sought to strengthen ties with local officials and residents. In April, the Japanese government and the U.S. Forces Japan announced a joint forum to “address a range of issues and improve community relations.”