A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 336th Fighter Squadron takes off from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, on Aug 11, 2023. An airman from the base on Friday was found guilty of raping a 15-year-old local girl and sentenced to five years in prison. USAF Photo by Airman 1st Class Edward Yankus
Dec. 13 (UPI) — A Japanese court on Friday found a U.S. airman guilty of the abduction and rape of a 15-year-old girl in Okinawa and sentenced him to five years in prison.
Brennon Washington, 25, an airman stationed at the U.S. Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, was handed the sentence by a judge presiding in Naha District Court, national broadcaster NHK and the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.
Prosecutors said Washington lured the girl into his car at a park on Okinawa’s main island on Dec. 24, 2023, forcibly drove her to his home and there engaged in “non-consensual” sex despite knowing the victim was underage.
Washington pleaded not guilty and claimed he was not aware the girl was under the age of consent. He also argued the sex was consensual.
Under the Japanese law, however, consent does not matter if the alleged victim is between 13 and 15 and is at least five years younger than the suspect.
In his ruling, the judge rejected Washington’s claims, citing security camera footage demonstrating the girl was able to communicate with him that she was underage and told him to “stop” in English, according to NHK.
The case generated wide publicity in Okinawa, where police this year came under fire following revelations they had failed to release information on a half-dozen sex assaults allegedly perpetrated by U.S. military personnel due to what they said were privacy concerns.
The case forced local police to review and change how they report crimes to the prefectural government.
“I am deeply sorry for the victim and her family,” U.S. Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans, commander of the 18th Air Wing, said in a statement issued to media outlets following the verdict. “Sexual assault is a serious crime and is totally incompatible with the values of U.S. military personnel serving in Okinawa to support the U.S.-Japan alliance.”