US soldier indicted on sexual assault charges in Japan

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - Japan on Tuesday revealed that a US soldier was indicted last December on charges of sexual assault, local media reported.

The incident that happened in the southern Okinawa province was not disclosed until now “due to its nature,” Japanese prosecutors said.

Shedding light on the alleged crime, the Japanese prosecutors said the American soldier Lance Corporal Jordan Begaye allegedly assaulted “the woman with whom he had no personal acquaintance off base in October,” according to the Kyodo News Agency.

“The victim sustained injuries in the assault,” the indictment read.

It was not known whether the 22-year-old US soldier has admitted to the crime.

However, prosecutors indicted Begaye on Dec. 23, but said they “refrained from notifying the public about the case due to its nature.”

The American soldier has been given into the custody of Japanese authorities after the Dec. 23 indictment under the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement.

Japan hosts around 50,000 US soldiers under a bilateral security pact. The bulk of the US military installations in Japan is located in Okinawa, where local residents have expressed frustration over noise, crimes and accidents linked to these facilities.

According to the Japanese police, the cops responded to a call from neighbors who sought help for the woman.

By the time police reached the spot, the US soldier had fled the scene.

Police said they did not “reveal it in consideration of the woman’s privacy.”

“Marine Corps leadership remains committed to maintaining an environment that rejects sexual assault and attitudes that promote such behaviors,” the Marine Corps Installations Pacific told Kyodo News Agency in an e-mail.

It called such incidents “contrary to our core values.”

“The alleged sexual assault was taken extremely seriously and was aggressively investigated by US military law enforcement,” the statement added.