The headquarters for Okinawa Prefectural Police is pictured in April 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
Police have accused a U.S. Navy sailor on Okinawa of inappropriately touching a Japanese girl over the summer, adding to a string of offenses that have roiled the island community the past two years.
The sailor — an unidentified man in his 20s — is accused of carrying out nonconsensual indecent acts against a teenage girl in June, a spokeswoman for Okinawa prefecture’s Military Base Affairs Division said by phone Wednesday.
Police sent the case to the Naha Public Prosecutors Office and notified the prefecture on Nov. 7, she added. Prosecutors, not police, decide charges under Japan’s legal system.
The girl is younger than 17, an Okinawa Prefectural Police spokesman said by phone Wednesday.
The sailor, assigned to Fleet Activities Okinawa, was issued an alleged offense notice by Kadena police on Nov. 7, U.S. Naval Forces Japan spokesman Cmdr. Paul Macapagal said by email Wednesday. The sailor is in U.S. custody, Macapagal said later by phone.
He declined further comment in the email “due to Japanese legal proceedings.”
Police allege the sailor touched the girl outdoors somewhere on Okinawa. She reported the incident to police that day, the spokesman said.
The case emerges as Okinawa continues to grapple with a series of high-profile sexual assault investigations involving U.S. troops. Japanese prosecutors have indicted four U.S. service members over the past two years.
In December, the Naha District Court convicted Senior Airman Brennon Washington of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor. In June, the court convicted Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton of strangling and attempting to sexually assault a woman. Both men have appealed.
On Tuesday, Marine Pfc. Austin Wedington pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a Japanese woman on Camp Foster in March but admitted to injuring another woman. A fourth case, against Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Hofmaster, is still pending.
Those cases — along with at least one other that was later dropped — triggered public backlash. The governments of Japan and Okinawa, along with Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, lodged formal protests with the U.S. military and government. Okinawa has also pressed Tokyo to revise the status of forces agreement governing U.S. troops in Japan.
In response, U.S. Forces Japan imposed stricter liberty rules in October 2024, including a ban on off-base drinking between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. and police patrols of nightlife districts in Naha and Okinawa city.
On Nov. 10, the prefecture’s base affairs division responded to the June incident by requesting additional measures from the Navy, the Okinawa Defense Bureau and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Okinawa Liaison Office, the division spokeswoman said.
The incident was “extremely regrettable,” she said, adding that the division asked for stronger preventative steps, including “a review of the content of training provided by the U.S. military and thorough education.”
Some Japanese government officials are required to speak with the press on condition of anonymity.
AloJapan.com