Japan: Another US soldier charged with sexual assault in Okinawa
Tokyo, June 29 (IANS) Public prosecutors in Japan’s southernmost prefecture of Okinawa have indicted a 21-year-old US Marine on charges of yet another non-consensual sexual intercourse resulting in injury.
On Friday, the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office said that they filed charges against Lance Corporal Jamel Clayton on June 17, reports Xinhua news agency.
According to the indictment, Clayton tightened a woman’s head with sexual intent in the village of Yomitan on May 26, causing subconjunctival haemorrhage and other injuries that required about two weeks to heal.
The news follows the revelation earlier this week that a US Air Force member has been indicted for allegedly kidnapping a girl under the age of 16 and committing non-consensual sexual intercourse.
Okinawa hosts 70 per cent of all the US military bases in Japan while accounting for only 0.6 per cent of the country’s total land area. Crimes committed by US service members and non-military personnel have been a constant source of grievance for locals.
The latest incident is expected to further inflame local opposition to the US military presence in the prefecture.
–IANS
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