US Air Force soldier charged with kidnapping and raping minors in Japan

A 25-year-old US Air Force soldier has been charged with kidnapping and raping an underage girl under the age of 16 in Okinawa, Japan, home to the largest American military base in the region, the BBC reported.

The alleged assault occurred on December 24. The soldier was identified from surveillance camera footage after the girl’s family reported the incident. He has been in custody of Japanese authorities since late March.

The case has reignited long-standing opposition to the U.S. military presence in Okinawa, where more than half of the 54,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan are based. Cases of sexual assault on U.S. soldiers have sparked anger in the past. One of the most high-profile incidents occurred in 1995, when a 12-year-old girl was raped by three U.S. soldiers, sparking months of protests.

Government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi made the allegations public on Tuesday and said U.S. authorities are cooperating fully with investigators. The Japanese Foreign Ministry has lodged a complaint with U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel, and the first hearing in the case is scheduled for July 12. Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki described the case as “not only disturbing … but also an affront to the girl’s dignity” and said it had “generated a significant level of suspicion.”

Japan is home to one of the world’s largest American military forces outside the United States. About 30,000 American troops are stationed in Okinawa. The bases have become increasingly strategic for Washington because of Okinawa’s proximity to Taiwan, which allows the United States to respond quickly to any Chinese threat. However, according to an opinion poll last year, seven in 10 Okinawans feel the concentration of US bases on their islands is “unfair.”

Accidents and crimes involving Japanese victims have long caused tensions surrounding the American presence. In 2012, a U.S. Navy officer killed two Japanese citizens in a car crash, and in 2017, a U.S. military base employee was convicted of raping and murdering a 20-year-old local woman. There have been efforts to move the U.S. bases to less populated parts of Okinawa, but locals want them gone altogether.

However, experts say Japan’s military alliance with the United States is too strong for this, as China’s growing claims to disputed waters and islands and North Korea’s spate of missile tests pose challenges.