TOKYO: Two US sailors who raped a Japanese woman in Okinawa last October were jailed yesterday for a crime that reignited long-smouldering anger against the US military in Japan.
The Naha District Court in Okinawa said Seaman Christopher Browning, 24, should go to prison for 10 years for the brutal rape of the young woman, from whom he also stole 7,000 yen ($75). Petty officer 3rd class Skyler Dozierwalker, 23, was jailed for nine years for raping the woman before dawn in a car park.
The soldiers, who were not stationed in Okinawa, had been drinking on the evening of the attack, and “were contemptible and violent”, Judge Hideyuki Suzuki said.
“The ruling may seem severe, but the damage to the feelings of the victim and residents is more severe,” he said in a statement after the case, according to Kyodo News. Earlier, the two men had admitted the rape, which caused a nationwide night curfew on US military personnel in Japan.
In 1995 the gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by US servicemen sparked protests resulting in a US-Japan deal to reduce the US military presence on the Okinawan chain. AFP
