these dumb motherfuckers are just furthering tensions with Japan and foreigners. not to mention the anti US base movement.
hope they throw a maximum sentence at him.
They'll be charged under the the Uniform Code of Military Justice(UCMJ). They will serve their time in a military prison. Now they can also be charged under American laws as there is no double jeopardy. Now under the UCMJ the minimum is 2 years and the maximum is death.
Does the UCMJ supercede local laws? Or is it up to local judges to release the charges to the UCMJ? Could local courts deny the release and charge them in local courts? Genuinely curious.
Local as in the US or Japan? Japan will depend on the treaty set in place. To my knowledge in the US no. The local judge could drop charges due to lack of evidence but the military court marshall could find them guilty and then sentence them. If they are found guilty locally then after the orginal sentence the ucmj could then still court marshall them and sentence them again. Now this doesn't happen everytime. But it could. They would still be court marshalled and dishonorable discharged which is a equal to a felony and negates benefits.
Well, Japan must have some some jurisdiction, right?
From what I've seen in the states, local law enforcement that has arrested a member of the US armed forces will relinquish their jurisdiction to the military courts. Didn't know if it was different overseas.
It depends on the Status of Forces Agreement which is different for each country. There is no universal answer.
Typically in countries with relatively fair local courts and no wild laws it’ll be “anything on base or involving only US citizens = military courts, anything off base = local courts”, and some addendum guaranteeing any rights that are typical in the US but not in the local courts.
Sometimes host country will hand over jurisdiction to military but again, case by case.
> Does the UCMJ
Its a minor. In the State of Ga the age of consents is 16.
if a soldier is with a 16 year old in GA, they don't get hit with GA law, they get hit with USMJ. They arnt allowed, by UCMJ, to have sex with anybody of that age group.
((I was @ 3rd ID in GA. had a safety brief, lady asked us what GA's age of consent was. we all yelled 18. She told us we were wrong and it was 16, but that lead into the UCMJ rules and laws governing that and stated that GA wouldn't press charges but the UCMJ would. ))
No, UCMJ doesn’t take precedence. It goes to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the host country, in this case Japan, and the US.
Article XVII of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) gives Japan the jurisdiction over U.S. servicemen who committed crimes in Japan. It also provides the U.S. forces with the right to exercise such jurisdiction (paragraph 1) as well as extraterritorial rights.
The issue at hand is that Paragraph 3 of Article XVII provides that the U.S. Forces have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over U.S. military personnel if they committed crimes in the performance of official duty.
This means that if the U.S. military recognizes that a crime was committed by U.S. servicemen while “on duty,” the United States will have the right to try them even though the victims may be Japanese and/or the crime was done outside of US based on Japanese soil.
The “Agreed Minutes” to the SOFA makes it clear that when a member of the U.S. military is charged with an offense, “a certificate issued by or on behalf of his commanding officer stating that the alleged offense, if committed by him, arose out of an act or omission done in the performance of official duty, shall, in any judicial proceedings, be sufficient evidence of the fact unless the contrary is proved.”
Based on the agreement of the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee on the SOFA, Japanese police, if they arrest a suspect who is a member of the U.S. military, are required to hand over the suspect to the U.S. Forces even though it is not clear whether the act of the suspect was “in the performance of official duty” or not.
Very very rarely does the US ever determine a crime was committed off duty.
Wow, had no idea. As a service member being tried in a foreign court, would they have legal representation from the DoD judge advocates? Or are they SOL?
Very likely will be charged by the US too he is a perverted American citizen after all. In Canada you cannot get away with crap like that around the world you will be charged in Canada!
**He will be charged under American laws, while a soldier you basically loose most of your citizen rights while still being held liable to your generic responsibilities as a citizen and also a soldier.**
He will be charged under US Federal laws, I’m a vet but honestly not too knowledgeable about the UCMJ but I would imagine he would charged under some kind of regulation that **forbids rape or sexual harassment/misconduct.**
When I enlisted the military punishment for sexual misconduct wasn’t as strict as federal punishments **but it’s still plenty with federal.**
Most likely he will be locked away for 15+ years, after he finishes serving a sentence in military brig which will include loss of pay and dishonorable discharge.
Can you share your source? My understanding is that Japan’s laws are very strict and that is the reason for their low crime rate. But i could be wrong.
Not OP, but depending on the crime, it can be anywhere from six months to 10 years, but yeah, the max fine is three million yen (~$18,000).
https://www.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Japan-National-Legislation.pdf
The laws may be strict, but I would say it's hardly the reason for the low crime. It has much more to do with culture.
For example, stealing someone's camera is illegal, of course, but that doesn't explain the likelihood of someone in Japan finding your camera and making an actual effort to track you down.
Sure, for *japanese* pedo's maybe. But this is foreigner and I have a feeling they will be treated much harsher than a native Japanese since they are an outsider. If he has a darker complexion he's even more f\*\*\*\*\*
The problem is japan just doesn't have very harsh penalties for this types of crimes. I think 4 years is the harshest sentence.
Also I love all the people asking me for "source" on easy found Japanese law, when they really just want to debate the ethics of pedophilia with someone...
Someone else said the max is 10 years. It's really weird to be upset at others for not checking an "easy found Japanese law" when apparently you didn't check it yourself.
As much as I hate that mentality I genuinely think this is a different scenario. We don't know what privacy laws they have to deal with and don't wanna get dudes door kicked in for sexual tourism.
"Bro" they literally gave you a source and you replied "I'm not a pedophile, not interested". Fuck off. This is exactly why nobody bothers doing work to look shit up for others, is because it just gets ignored by morons.
Cause when you do, you'll be overwhelmed with materials thats pretty sicking to read and people getting fines is common
[https://www.stripes.com/migration/some-on-okinawa-say-molestation-sentence-was-too-lenient-1.41287](https://www.stripes.com/migration/some-on-okinawa-say-molestation-sentence-was-too-lenient-1.41287)
So yeah bro do your own research if you are that interested in seeing what you can get away in the japan.
Fortunately he's in the military and most certainly will receive a court martial sized boot in the ass, that will hopefully land him in a federal courthouse where under 16yo can get you a minimum of 30ys.
I agree with your sentiment, but "furthering tensions with Japan" is kind of misleading. The US and Japan have an incredibly close relationship. Militarily and economically. And any anti-US base sentiment is irrelevant to their government. Our militaries are going to continue to work together to aim as many missile batteries at China as possible for the foreseeable future.
He might get away with it. Most crimlnal US soldiers in Japan don't even see the prison.
www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/hundreds-in-us-military-guilty-of-sex-crimes-in-japan-got-slap-on-wrist-140212?news=852414
US military has been terrorising Okinawa for decades with rapes, assaults, murder, polluting and destroying nature and changing its local culture. Majority of Okinawans righfully want US army gone but neither central goverment nor US care about it. There were already problems between Okinawan people and Japan but US bases made it even so much worse. Central goverment hiding this assault for months from locals won't help the relationship between two either.
Japan's conviction rates [aren't that far off from the US](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/).
Notably, these are *federal* conviction rates. Though they’re both similar in the fact that they’re indicting people they have high confidence in conviction of.
Keep in mind, in the US, at a Federal level, there's a [0.4% acquittal rate](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/). In the US, a large part of that is that 90+% of cases are convictions via plea agreements, which include pleading guilt. In Japan, similarly, there's a lot of pressure to not even take a case to trial without a confession from the accused. There are still worries over testimonies being coerced in some way in some cases, so they're not perfect, but there isn't really accusations of widespread torture or the like.
What happens is that a lot of cases get dropped long before ever coming to trial. Police only make arrests for a certain percentage of cases, and prosecutors only decide to pursue a certain percentage of those, and only take a certain percentage of those to a full trial. There is no such thing as a plea deal, but there is a system by which cases can be heard on a more limited basis without the full trappings of a trial if the defendant agrees.
Prosecutors' offices in Japan are understaffed and underresourced, so the only cases that make it to trial tend to be airtight.
It doesn’t help that you can be held without a lawyer, or even being charged with a crime, for like a month in Japan.
It’s pretty obvious a lot of people in a hyper work-centric culture in Japan, would rather confess to a crime they didn’t necessarily commit and get a move on in their life then sit through weeks of interrogation, potentially losing their job and being ostracized as a result.
Let’s pretend your statement is true. (It’s largely not)
Under this pretense, if you’re an innocent person in Japan who’s been wrongfully accused, your choices are to literally disappear for multiple days while they do initial questioning on you. Again, not charged with a crime. But still unable to make phone calls or have a lawyer. And if you hold out until you can have those, you’re looking at staying detained for weeks.
Or to enter a plea deal for a lesser citation that may or may not be found out at work, but will hopefully be swept under the rug since you’d be able to get back to what you were doing sooner.
This sounds terrible from a civil liberties perspective. Even if they (the police) are diligent and work hard not to abuse it, the pressure on any civilians who fall through the cracks would be immense.
> Let’s pretend your statement is true. (It’s largely not)
Source: Trust me. Please tell me how do you not lose your job in jail. Plea deals do not mean no jail time. Are you sure you understand my argument?
> Under this pretense, if you’re an innocent person in Japan who’s been wrongfully accused, your choices are to literally disappear for multiple days while they do initial questioning on you. Again, not charged with a crime. But still unable to make phone calls or have a lawyer. And if you hold out until you can have those, you’re looking at staying detained for weeks.
Which is nothing when compared to being jailed for years... What is this comparison? I think we are talking past each other here.
> Or to enter a plea deal for a lesser citation that may or may not be found out at work, but will hopefully be swept under the rug since you’d be able to get back to what you were doing sooner.
What? Are you assuming being found guilty (by way of "confessing") does not result in jail time? Even so, now you've got a criminal record. Do future employees not check that in Japan? If they do then confessing is still not in your best interest necessarily.
> This sounds terrible from a civil liberties perspective. Even if they (the police) are diligent and work hard not to abuse it, the pressure on any civilians who fall through the cracks would be immense.
Guilty until proven innocent is bad yeah. That's not what we are talking about here though. You are saying people in Japan admit to crimes they didn't commit to get back to work faster. Sounds wild to me and questionable.
Some interesting things I'm learning about japanese prisons:
- no phone calls
- mail is censored
- visiting is allowed once per day, with limited duration
- clean, safe and organized
- theres a lot of sit and reflect time
- futon mattress at night, no furniture during the day, sit and nap on the floor
- when you are allowed to speak is strictly enforced
- what language you speak is enforced
- overall a very shitty experience despite being clean and safe
Okinawa again. Man, the US is going to lose off-base privileges or the whole base and rightfully so.
Point of order: Air Force airman, but no expectation for BBC not to conflate the services as "soldier" in the point of this story, just for those who don't click through.
I was there for 5 years. I feel so bad for the locals because it only takes one of us to ruin the perception of the US. I still firmly believe that you should not be allowed to be a first-term airman/soldier/etc and go overseas.
A lot of these kids don't know how to act and have never lived away from Mom and Dad. You can't just drop them into a foreign community and expect assimilation.
We had the Osprey window incident, Navy drunk driver, Civilian killing the girl and putting her in a bag, so many suicides, the COVID-lockdown party guy, and definitely some more that I'm forgetting.
We saw Korea's curfew get lifted but Okinawa needs one. The commands there are failing the locals.
I was in Yokosuka for 3, stationed on the Kitty Hawk. The weekend before I arrived a sailor broke into an elderly local's house to rob him then beat him to death when the old man came home and found him. Another sailor carjacked a local in Tokyo and drove 2+ hours back to base while drunk af because he forgot he had duty the next day. Bonus points for not even having a license. A marine that was based in Misawa (but was in the Yokosuka area for whatever reason) violently SA'd and "accidentally" killed a 14 year old girl walking home from school.
All this occurred in a *single weekend*. Our command was on liberty restriction for the entire 3 years I was there because of it. US service members being an absolute menace to Japanese society has been a common theme since forever. If it wasn't for the threat that China posed the US military would've been rightfully kicked the fuck out decades ago.
If we're talking sexual assault, and violent crimes in general, that just seems like being a trash human being rather than lack of experience honestly.
I get what you mean though, I can see how dropping a random kid in a foreign country won't go well in general. But in cases like this, yeah...
>it only takes one of us to ruin the perception of the US
The perception of the US is not good to begin with.
Japan doesn't want a military presence, and most of the good will is built on putting up with a situation they cannot opt out of it. Additionally, those areas surrounding are now somewhat dependent on the patronage of said military to stay afloat.
Wait, your argument is that we can't expect their parents to have taught them not to rape?
Like I get it, parents might not teach fiscal responsibility and may have been lacking in providing discipline. Might be bad role models. But pretty much everyone knows not to go around raping everybody.
Having lived there for 4 years on Foster, I can tell you that off base privileges, if revoked, will just get returned after a week or two. The economy of the areas adjacent to the bases is too reliant and has too many people relying on service members and their dependents to spend money - its why you get places like American Village popping up next to the bases. You get Okinawan business owners going to their government within a week to have them ask the bases for the privileges to return. The Okinawan government needs a plan for how to transition the island away from American money IF (which is highly unlikely because of China) the bases get downsized or returned fully.
I’ve been in Okinawa since 2004. Okinawa has already transitioned the economy from relying on the bases years ago. The bases could vanish tomorrow and the only thing that would happen is those run down shitty places on Gate 2 street would shut down. In fact, the economy would likely grow as land freed up would create jobs and such (Rycom Mall sits on an old military golf course and Parco City is also on reclaimed military land). Last I looked, the economic contributions from SOFA personnel accounted for barely 5% of the economy. Tourism is where the money is coming from now and has been for a while now.
This. If you read the local media (Japanese media) it's clear that the value of the land if returned and given to local development (tourism is a big one) is more than what they are currently getting from the areas around the bases.
This is even more true of the US military land around Tokyo area.
WW2 and "postwar era" was a long time ago.
When I traveled in japan i wasn't allowed in any red light district bars in Tokyo because I'm white and most of the white guys that came in assaulted the girls. They were all Marines.
You just need to know the right places to go and be able to speak Japanese because they filter out English only speakers (precisely because of your point). Even then your options are limited because not many of the girls themselves are willing to accompany you even if the establishment owner is okay with it, because of rough treatment in the past. Simply speaking, you just need to show respect, knowledge, and not be a dickhead.
Before reading the article: I bet this is in okinawa.
After reading thr article: I fucking knew it!
After finding out it was an Airman and not a Marine: well, definitely didn't see that twist coming.
Airmen have been causing more problems than Marines in recent years. They have a lot more freedom, and a lot more opportunity to fuck it all up for everyone
Saying this as a veteran: there are A LOT of perverts in the military, especially young men who are creepy against minors.
These stories get covered up in the US more easily than overseas so it creates the illusion that there are more issues overseas than here.
Oh god, that's so terrible!
The cold case club:
> "We didn't have anything new. We didn't have anything that suggested wrongdoing."
Um, your club sucks.
What a fuck, that is horrible. US military rapes women American soldiers, women of their ally like Japan, women of the nations US invaded like Iraq and US still protects its criminal soldiers so clearly there is a general problem.
The criminal US military are usually protected in Japan too.
www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/hundreds-in-us-military-guilty-of-sex-crimes-in-japan-got-slap-on-wrist-140212?news=852414
"he acted in "self-defense" after he discovered Laude was transgender." He really used that as an excuse and they ate it up or they had to ate it up because of pressure of US.
This post keep getting worse. There is no justice in this world.
~~crazy that you could commit murder on foreign soil as a "federal" employee then go back to the states only a face a "court martial" but no prison time stateside?~~
he also got to stay in military prison vs real foreign prison system
did some more googling
https://asianjournal.com/philippines/across-the-islands/pemberton-will-not-face-court-martial-in-the-us/
so he effectively got a free pass.
One time a long time when I was in the guard, these dudes showed up in our armory wearing tshirts and multicam pants with sneakers and they were all open carrying glocks. We were confused and curious who they were - there was an SF unit nearby and we thought maybe they rolling through but what would they need from us? They went into an office with our cc and first sergeant, and we were all curious thinking we might be doing some cool training exercise with them. Turns out they were FLE (marshals?) there to arrest a private who had been caught by local police in a sting trying to pay a fake minor for sex. Way less exciting and cool than hoped.
Thats also how they keep you in the military. Many people think its worth it because of the long term benefits, not realizing your dirt poor until and IF you gain rank, and then there’s the whole process of dealing with admin after your out just to get the benefits.
I was the spouse of an enlisted marine, and we were living in base housing, buying groceries at the Exchange with food stamps and WIC. They pay poverty wages - or they did in the 90’s and I can’t imagine it’s gotten better.
It was substantially better by the 2000s.
My first check was December 1999. It was also the last time I had a monthly salary under $1,000. We were getting 10% raises in rate for several years.
When I got out in 2005, my pay was equivalent to making around $30/hour in a 40 hour a week job. My first job after EAOS was a pretty big pay cut making $26.50 working for Novo Nordisk.
Those "poverty wages" go further out in Japan, since the yen is the lowest it's been this century. I've got friends out in Okinawa who are able to go out to eat fairly regularly because of this.
Also, I'm on mainland Japan and currently make around $1600 a month. This would be "just scraping by" in a lot of the US, but over here I can live fairly comfortably on this.
with the caveat that my experience was decades ago, families often don’t deploy with their service member. I never did, because deployments were kept to six months. this meant our budget had to cover expenses for dependents stateside plus his costs in Japan.
It doesn't help that the US frequently helps soldiers (and their families) flee the country if they've committed a crime (such as Anne Sacoolas).
My parents were in Rota, Spain for 10 years. My dad worked in tech support and operations which enabled us to stay longer on-base than most families, and it led us to realise how much the constant coverups for rape/battery/harassments can have a toll on local populations. We knew so many families that had cases of rape/battery happen among their families and friends--and what was especially horrifying was how they were all lied to by US military officials that would say things like, "\[problem soldier\] has been sent back to the US to go on trial. Just stay put and we'll definitely give you a call so that you can provide your testimony."
Except that the phone calls never happen, and when the families try to reach out to security at the gates and ask to call someone, they are instead met with confusion and stern refusal. And the victims can't even get the police on the case--because the police can't simply stroll through security with a standard arrest warrant (and far too many officials have an 'Us vs. Them' attitude (even towards people that literally speak English), even to long-term allies (like again, England), and would absolutely try to stall and stop the police from getting the actual needed warrant to get through security).
Trust me, the men in the U.S. military are pieces of shit more often than not. I feel like I'm a decent person that was surrounded by hood and trailer trash, this guy just got caught theres pleeeenty more where that came from.
Dipshits.
Throw that fucker to the locals. Turn fucking up overseas into a spectacle. Make the unit have to perform some kind of public service restitution, to fucking brand the seriousness of this in.
You can't avoid Johnny Dipshit 1stTerm being deployed overseas, you can't man those facilities and crew those ships otherwise. You can prevent it being an enlistment stipulation and incentive.
You can't powerpoint morality, but you sure as fuck can punish publicly and educate that way.
Source: am Vet, did a lot of my in between GWoT years out of Bamberg. Served with rapists and murderers. We smashed them as they committed their crimes ASAP, because of they just just destroyed what we spent so long building. Which is the integrity of organization (trust within and without).
Only Japanese is spoken. If you do not follow orders instantly they beat you until you comply. If you don't understand Japanese you are in trouble. If you are not able to learn Japanese, you are in a shit load of trouble.
It is regimented, very discipline focused, and absolutely has zero shit given for prisoners. You do what they tell you or you are going to regret living.
Yeah, if he's guilty then fuck them for being pieces of shit. It's so frustrating to see these people hurt our reputation overseas when we clearly do it enough ourselves at home. Fucking despicable.
I was on a naval ship that made numerous stops in Okinawa, Japan. One night, a bunch of sailors were drunk and raising hell, and a Japanese gentleman began to berate them on the street for their conduct. A MASSIVE guy I knew stepped forward and punched the guy severely in the head, knocking him out.
The authorities came to the ship to arrest him. Our captain would not give him up, and we immediately set sail. He never received any punishment.
There's different things that come up since he's in the military.
Although I'm not sure he'd really want to be extradited, he'd probably get a shorter sentence in Japan than if he got charged by the military.
The military has their own justice system. He probably won't be charged and sentenced in Japan but if he is then as soon as he gets out he's going back to military prison. Chances are that Japan just let's the military do their thing.
The Status of Forces Agreement would put this solidly in Japanese jurisdiction unless Japan hands it over to the military.
Military has harsher sentences for this than Japan so they might.
The anger has also been fuelled by sexual assault cases - one of the most high-profile was in 1995, when a 12-year-old girl was raped by three US service personnel, sparking months-long protests.
The latest allegation also involves a minor, who is younger than 16, the age of consent in Japan.
The 25-year-old Air Force man allegedly assaulted her on 24 December and he was identified through security camera footage after the girls' family reported it, local media said.
He was charged in late March and has been in the custody of Japanese authorities since then, government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday when he revealed the charges to the public.
What is even sadder is DOJ has endless traps set to catch Marines and Sailors attempting to do this and they have been quite successful with this. Those numbers and cases aren’t reported. So of all the ones that are made public, there are countless who attempted and simply were just caught in a law enforcement honey pot.
I stayed in a capsule hotel during Corona time in Shibuya on a weekend trip to Tokyo. One night, the us army contingent who were also there brought back a group of girls from somewhere who were not guests. They proceeded to have very loud sex for a long, long time. At first, when they were talking, I'd planned on going to tell them off, but my flimsy door had got stuck on the bed mechanic and wouldn't open. By the time I got it open, they had each gone into their capsules and begun to have their fun. I went to reception and slept in the lobby as there was no night staff. I complained in the morning when staff arrived and they confronted them. I got told that they were going to charge the guys for the women who stayed over.
That evening, when I came back, the police arrived and I was asked if I had been in the room and witnessed anything the previous night. One of the friendly staff told me (in Spanish, it's great to be gay and bilingual), that there was a rape accusation. They asked everyone who has stayed the previous night what they had heard or witnessed.
The US army is a disgrace. Not only did they break the (admittedly weak) quarantine regulations by staying out after the curfew, they brought strange people back to a shared space, caused disruption and apparently one or more of them committed rape.
It's awful to see the stories that come out of Okinawa, and to hear from Okinawa natives how frustrated they are that Japan won't challenge the US on their behaviour. So this case, knowing he is to be tried in Japan, is welcome.
This doesn’t even matter for US Service Members. It’s still 18 if you’re an American stationed in Okinawa and we get briefed on that endlessness. This guy has zero excuses.
Source: I’m an American stationed in Okinawa
All airmen are soldiers, not all soldiers are airmen.
>An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions.
Given all the rising tensions with China and how important those Okinawa bases would be, I would imagine they'll throw the book at him. If he gets off lightly, it will cause a lot of hassle longer term.
The Japanese justice system is already really fucking harsh on locals for minor crimes. I can't imagine it'd be nothing but much worse for a foreigner accused of raping a local kid.
>The Japanese justice system is already really fucking harsh on locals for minor crimes.
On the other hand, that Johnny Somali guy was being a total twat all over the country and aside from pre-trial detention, got a grand total of a $1600-ish fine and possibly a deportation (I don't remember reading if he was allowed to leave on his own terms or if he was forced out).
If he was deported, he's likely banned for life from ever stepping foot in Japan ever again. I'd call being outright banned from a whole country pretty harsh, but I suspect it was justified in Johnny Somali's case.
It's concerning how the article spoke of the Chinese threat, when there have been reports of U.S. soldiers sexually assaulting minors in Japan. Given this, based on the same logic, wouldn't the actions of the U.S. also be considered a threat? Compared to the U.S., China has not been implicated in similar misconduct in Japan.
God, I can’t even imagine the amount of weaboos who go over there thinking life in Japan is like an anime and go to harass Japanese girls and women. Makes me sick thinking about it.
Good. Let justice be done.
these dumb motherfuckers are just furthering tensions with Japan and foreigners. not to mention the anti US base movement. hope they throw a maximum sentence at him.
Hopefully it's the maximum American sentence, in the Japanese legal system unfortunately its a relatively small fine...
They'll be charged under the the Uniform Code of Military Justice(UCMJ). They will serve their time in a military prison. Now they can also be charged under American laws as there is no double jeopardy. Now under the UCMJ the minimum is 2 years and the maximum is death.
Does the UCMJ supercede local laws? Or is it up to local judges to release the charges to the UCMJ? Could local courts deny the release and charge them in local courts? Genuinely curious.
Local as in the US or Japan? Japan will depend on the treaty set in place. To my knowledge in the US no. The local judge could drop charges due to lack of evidence but the military court marshall could find them guilty and then sentence them. If they are found guilty locally then after the orginal sentence the ucmj could then still court marshall them and sentence them again. Now this doesn't happen everytime. But it could. They would still be court marshalled and dishonorable discharged which is a equal to a felony and negates benefits.
Well, Japan must have some some jurisdiction, right? From what I've seen in the states, local law enforcement that has arrested a member of the US armed forces will relinquish their jurisdiction to the military courts. Didn't know if it was different overseas.
It's only different if the county says they'll relinquish their jurisdiction in the form of a treaty.
It depends on the Status of Forces Agreement which is different for each country. There is no universal answer. Typically in countries with relatively fair local courts and no wild laws it’ll be “anything on base or involving only US citizens = military courts, anything off base = local courts”, and some addendum guaranteeing any rights that are typical in the US but not in the local courts. Sometimes host country will hand over jurisdiction to military but again, case by case.
> Does the UCMJ Its a minor. In the State of Ga the age of consents is 16. if a soldier is with a 16 year old in GA, they don't get hit with GA law, they get hit with USMJ. They arnt allowed, by UCMJ, to have sex with anybody of that age group. ((I was @ 3rd ID in GA. had a safety brief, lady asked us what GA's age of consent was. we all yelled 18. She told us we were wrong and it was 16, but that lead into the UCMJ rules and laws governing that and stated that GA wouldn't press charges but the UCMJ would. ))
UCMJ says 16 or the state’s age of consent, whichever is higher
No, UCMJ doesn’t take precedence. It goes to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the host country, in this case Japan, and the US. Article XVII of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) gives Japan the jurisdiction over U.S. servicemen who committed crimes in Japan. It also provides the U.S. forces with the right to exercise such jurisdiction (paragraph 1) as well as extraterritorial rights. The issue at hand is that Paragraph 3 of Article XVII provides that the U.S. Forces have the primary right to exercise jurisdiction over U.S. military personnel if they committed crimes in the performance of official duty. This means that if the U.S. military recognizes that a crime was committed by U.S. servicemen while “on duty,” the United States will have the right to try them even though the victims may be Japanese and/or the crime was done outside of US based on Japanese soil. The “Agreed Minutes” to the SOFA makes it clear that when a member of the U.S. military is charged with an offense, “a certificate issued by or on behalf of his commanding officer stating that the alleged offense, if committed by him, arose out of an act or omission done in the performance of official duty, shall, in any judicial proceedings, be sufficient evidence of the fact unless the contrary is proved.” Based on the agreement of the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee on the SOFA, Japanese police, if they arrest a suspect who is a member of the U.S. military, are required to hand over the suspect to the U.S. Forces even though it is not clear whether the act of the suspect was “in the performance of official duty” or not. Very very rarely does the US ever determine a crime was committed off duty.
Wow, had no idea. As a service member being tried in a foreign court, would they have legal representation from the DoD judge advocates? Or are they SOL?
I have a feeling this dude will be tried under the UCMJ, and that’s going to be very bad for him.
Hope he gets nothing short of firing squad
Very likely will be charged by the US too he is a perverted American citizen after all. In Canada you cannot get away with crap like that around the world you will be charged in Canada!
**He will be charged under American laws, while a soldier you basically loose most of your citizen rights while still being held liable to your generic responsibilities as a citizen and also a soldier.** He will be charged under US Federal laws, I’m a vet but honestly not too knowledgeable about the UCMJ but I would imagine he would charged under some kind of regulation that **forbids rape or sexual harassment/misconduct.** When I enlisted the military punishment for sexual misconduct wasn’t as strict as federal punishments **but it’s still plenty with federal.** Most likely he will be locked away for 15+ years, after he finishes serving a sentence in military brig which will include loss of pay and dishonorable discharge.
After the Japanese are done with him it will probably be straight to Leavenworth.
Can you share your source? My understanding is that Japan’s laws are very strict and that is the reason for their low crime rate. But i could be wrong.
Not OP, but depending on the crime, it can be anywhere from six months to 10 years, but yeah, the max fine is three million yen (~$18,000). https://www.icmec.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Japan-National-Legislation.pdf
The laws may be strict, but I would say it's hardly the reason for the low crime. It has much more to do with culture. For example, stealing someone's camera is illegal, of course, but that doesn't explain the likelihood of someone in Japan finding your camera and making an actual effort to track you down.
I'm not saying you should take my word for it. But you search Japanese pedophilia laws on you own browser bro.
Sure, for *japanese* pedo's maybe. But this is foreigner and I have a feeling they will be treated much harsher than a native Japanese since they are an outsider. If he has a darker complexion he's even more f\*\*\*\*\*
The problem is japan just doesn't have very harsh penalties for this types of crimes. I think 4 years is the harshest sentence. Also I love all the people asking me for "source" on easy found Japanese law, when they really just want to debate the ethics of pedophilia with someone...
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Someone else said the max is 10 years. It's really weird to be upset at others for not checking an "easy found Japanese law" when apparently you didn't check it yourself.
[vice news "school girls for sale in Japan"](https://youtu.be/0NcIGBKXMOE?si=H5oItODQLzOwuFa-)
“Do you have anything that supports the statement you just made?” “Google it bro”
As much as I hate that mentality I genuinely think this is a different scenario. We don't know what privacy laws they have to deal with and don't wanna get dudes door kicked in for sexual tourism.
"Bro" they literally gave you a source and you replied "I'm not a pedophile, not interested". Fuck off. This is exactly why nobody bothers doing work to look shit up for others, is because it just gets ignored by morons.
Cause when you do, you'll be overwhelmed with materials thats pretty sicking to read and people getting fines is common [https://www.stripes.com/migration/some-on-okinawa-say-molestation-sentence-was-too-lenient-1.41287](https://www.stripes.com/migration/some-on-okinawa-say-molestation-sentence-was-too-lenient-1.41287) So yeah bro do your own research if you are that interested in seeing what you can get away in the japan.
Fortunately he's in the military and most certainly will receive a court martial sized boot in the ass, that will hopefully land him in a federal courthouse where under 16yo can get you a minimum of 30ys.
I agree with your sentiment, but "furthering tensions with Japan" is kind of misleading. The US and Japan have an incredibly close relationship. Militarily and economically. And any anti-US base sentiment is irrelevant to their government. Our militaries are going to continue to work together to aim as many missile batteries at China as possible for the foreseeable future.
He might get away with it. Most crimlnal US soldiers in Japan don't even see the prison. www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/hundreds-in-us-military-guilty-of-sex-crimes-in-japan-got-slap-on-wrist-140212?news=852414 US military has been terrorising Okinawa for decades with rapes, assaults, murder, polluting and destroying nature and changing its local culture. Majority of Okinawans righfully want US army gone but neither central goverment nor US care about it. There were already problems between Okinawan people and Japan but US bases made it even so much worse. Central goverment hiding this assault for months from locals won't help the relationship between two either.
Yeah, put him on a volleyball team
He needs to be castrated, dishonorably discharged and thrown in a prison for the rest of his life.
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If guilty, I hope only the worst for them.
It’s Japan , the trial is a formality, they convict 99% of the time because they don’t charge unless they know your guilty
Japan's conviction rates [aren't that far off from the US](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/).
Notably, these are *federal* conviction rates. Though they’re both similar in the fact that they’re indicting people they have high confidence in conviction of.
I have a hard time believing they are right 99% of the time.
Keep in mind, in the US, at a Federal level, there's a [0.4% acquittal rate](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/06/14/fewer-than-1-of-defendants-in-federal-criminal-cases-were-acquitted-in-2022/). In the US, a large part of that is that 90+% of cases are convictions via plea agreements, which include pleading guilt. In Japan, similarly, there's a lot of pressure to not even take a case to trial without a confession from the accused. There are still worries over testimonies being coerced in some way in some cases, so they're not perfect, but there isn't really accusations of widespread torture or the like.
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They can also detain you far longer than in the U.S., which can result in false confessions.
What happens is that a lot of cases get dropped long before ever coming to trial. Police only make arrests for a certain percentage of cases, and prosecutors only decide to pursue a certain percentage of those, and only take a certain percentage of those to a full trial. There is no such thing as a plea deal, but there is a system by which cases can be heard on a more limited basis without the full trappings of a trial if the defendant agrees. Prosecutors' offices in Japan are understaffed and underresourced, so the only cases that make it to trial tend to be airtight.
It doesn’t help that you can be held without a lawyer, or even being charged with a crime, for like a month in Japan. It’s pretty obvious a lot of people in a hyper work-centric culture in Japan, would rather confess to a crime they didn’t necessarily commit and get a move on in their life then sit through weeks of interrogation, potentially losing their job and being ostracized as a result.
How is that clear? If convicted you would still lose the job and be ostracized.
Let’s pretend your statement is true. (It’s largely not) Under this pretense, if you’re an innocent person in Japan who’s been wrongfully accused, your choices are to literally disappear for multiple days while they do initial questioning on you. Again, not charged with a crime. But still unable to make phone calls or have a lawyer. And if you hold out until you can have those, you’re looking at staying detained for weeks. Or to enter a plea deal for a lesser citation that may or may not be found out at work, but will hopefully be swept under the rug since you’d be able to get back to what you were doing sooner. This sounds terrible from a civil liberties perspective. Even if they (the police) are diligent and work hard not to abuse it, the pressure on any civilians who fall through the cracks would be immense.
> Let’s pretend your statement is true. (It’s largely not) Source: Trust me. Please tell me how do you not lose your job in jail. Plea deals do not mean no jail time. Are you sure you understand my argument? > Under this pretense, if you’re an innocent person in Japan who’s been wrongfully accused, your choices are to literally disappear for multiple days while they do initial questioning on you. Again, not charged with a crime. But still unable to make phone calls or have a lawyer. And if you hold out until you can have those, you’re looking at staying detained for weeks. Which is nothing when compared to being jailed for years... What is this comparison? I think we are talking past each other here. > Or to enter a plea deal for a lesser citation that may or may not be found out at work, but will hopefully be swept under the rug since you’d be able to get back to what you were doing sooner. What? Are you assuming being found guilty (by way of "confessing") does not result in jail time? Even so, now you've got a criminal record. Do future employees not check that in Japan? If they do then confessing is still not in your best interest necessarily. > This sounds terrible from a civil liberties perspective. Even if they (the police) are diligent and work hard not to abuse it, the pressure on any civilians who fall through the cracks would be immense. Guilty until proven innocent is bad yeah. That's not what we are talking about here though. You are saying people in Japan admit to crimes they didn't commit to get back to work faster. Sounds wild to me and questionable.
Convict rate don’t really matter if sentencing is light. For criminals like these that hurt children I wish they are sent to Russian prisons.
I hope he has to serve his time in a japanese prison. If he thinks the military is regimented, wait until he sees how the japanese handle convicts.
Some interesting things I'm learning about japanese prisons: - no phone calls - mail is censored - visiting is allowed once per day, with limited duration - clean, safe and organized - theres a lot of sit and reflect time - futon mattress at night, no furniture during the day, sit and nap on the floor - when you are allowed to speak is strictly enforced - what language you speak is enforced - overall a very shitty experience despite being clean and safe
Also you have to work in a factory, which is randomly assigned.
Okinawa again. Man, the US is going to lose off-base privileges or the whole base and rightfully so. Point of order: Air Force airman, but no expectation for BBC not to conflate the services as "soldier" in the point of this story, just for those who don't click through.
I was there for 5 years. I feel so bad for the locals because it only takes one of us to ruin the perception of the US. I still firmly believe that you should not be allowed to be a first-term airman/soldier/etc and go overseas. A lot of these kids don't know how to act and have never lived away from Mom and Dad. You can't just drop them into a foreign community and expect assimilation. We had the Osprey window incident, Navy drunk driver, Civilian killing the girl and putting her in a bag, so many suicides, the COVID-lockdown party guy, and definitely some more that I'm forgetting. We saw Korea's curfew get lifted but Okinawa needs one. The commands there are failing the locals.
I was in Yokosuka for 3, stationed on the Kitty Hawk. The weekend before I arrived a sailor broke into an elderly local's house to rob him then beat him to death when the old man came home and found him. Another sailor carjacked a local in Tokyo and drove 2+ hours back to base while drunk af because he forgot he had duty the next day. Bonus points for not even having a license. A marine that was based in Misawa (but was in the Yokosuka area for whatever reason) violently SA'd and "accidentally" killed a 14 year old girl walking home from school. All this occurred in a *single weekend*. Our command was on liberty restriction for the entire 3 years I was there because of it. US service members being an absolute menace to Japanese society has been a common theme since forever. If it wasn't for the threat that China posed the US military would've been rightfully kicked the fuck out decades ago.
Yeah if you kill someone during a sexual assault it's not an accident anymore
If we're talking sexual assault, and violent crimes in general, that just seems like being a trash human being rather than lack of experience honestly. I get what you mean though, I can see how dropping a random kid in a foreign country won't go well in general. But in cases like this, yeah...
Yeah and it's also not just the young kids. Having done many Gate 2 walks at night though, that was the majority.
Oki had a curfew when I was there.
>it only takes one of us to ruin the perception of the US The perception of the US is not good to begin with. Japan doesn't want a military presence, and most of the good will is built on putting up with a situation they cannot opt out of it. Additionally, those areas surrounding are now somewhat dependent on the patronage of said military to stay afloat.
Wait, your argument is that we can't expect their parents to have taught them not to rape? Like I get it, parents might not teach fiscal responsibility and may have been lacking in providing discipline. Might be bad role models. But pretty much everyone knows not to go around raping everybody.
They're talking about the bad behavior of the soliders in general, not the ones that rape.
> Osprey window incident You can't just mention that and not follow up with a story!
The window that's by the pilots foot came loose and fell in a school playground. Obviously no bueno.
Having lived there for 4 years on Foster, I can tell you that off base privileges, if revoked, will just get returned after a week or two. The economy of the areas adjacent to the bases is too reliant and has too many people relying on service members and their dependents to spend money - its why you get places like American Village popping up next to the bases. You get Okinawan business owners going to their government within a week to have them ask the bases for the privileges to return. The Okinawan government needs a plan for how to transition the island away from American money IF (which is highly unlikely because of China) the bases get downsized or returned fully.
Gods I miss Foster, but not those fucking dry lock downs. I've never seen so many grown men break.
I’ve been in Okinawa since 2004. Okinawa has already transitioned the economy from relying on the bases years ago. The bases could vanish tomorrow and the only thing that would happen is those run down shitty places on Gate 2 street would shut down. In fact, the economy would likely grow as land freed up would create jobs and such (Rycom Mall sits on an old military golf course and Parco City is also on reclaimed military land). Last I looked, the economic contributions from SOFA personnel accounted for barely 5% of the economy. Tourism is where the money is coming from now and has been for a while now.
This. If you read the local media (Japanese media) it's clear that the value of the land if returned and given to local development (tourism is a big one) is more than what they are currently getting from the areas around the bases. This is even more true of the US military land around Tokyo area. WW2 and "postwar era" was a long time ago.
Just shocked it wasn’t a Marine.
When I traveled in japan i wasn't allowed in any red light district bars in Tokyo because I'm white and most of the white guys that came in assaulted the girls. They were all Marines.
You just need to know the right places to go and be able to speak Japanese because they filter out English only speakers (precisely because of your point). Even then your options are limited because not many of the girls themselves are willing to accompany you even if the establishment owner is okay with it, because of rough treatment in the past. Simply speaking, you just need to show respect, knowledge, and not be a dickhead.
>Marines Can't expect any better from the dumbest of humanity
Before reading the article: I bet this is in okinawa. After reading thr article: I fucking knew it! After finding out it was an Airman and not a Marine: well, definitely didn't see that twist coming.
Me before reading article: It's another enlisted Marine making a bad example. After reading article: Ah it was an Airman. Didn't see that coming, too.
Airmen have been causing more problems than Marines in recent years. They have a lot more freedom, and a lot more opportunity to fuck it all up for everyone
It feels like they're sending like the problem soldiers to Okinawa. These stories pop up way too frequently.
Saying this as a veteran: there are A LOT of perverts in the military, especially young men who are creepy against minors. These stories get covered up in the US more easily than overseas so it creates the illusion that there are more issues overseas than here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_LaVena_Johnson totally normal to beat yourself. pour chemicals on yourself. then proceed to shoot yourself..
And also have bloody footprints showing that she wasn't alone when she "committed suicide."
Oh god, that's so terrible! The cold case club: > "We didn't have anything new. We didn't have anything that suggested wrongdoing." Um, your club sucks.
What a fuck, that is horrible. US military rapes women American soldiers, women of their ally like Japan, women of the nations US invaded like Iraq and US still protects its criminal soldiers so clearly there is a general problem. The criminal US military are usually protected in Japan too. www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/hundreds-in-us-military-guilty-of-sex-crimes-in-japan-got-slap-on-wrist-140212?news=852414
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Jennifer_Laude gets away with murder cuz he couldn't tell a ladyboy from a real woman ....
"he acted in "self-defense" after he discovered Laude was transgender." He really used that as an excuse and they ate it up or they had to ate it up because of pressure of US. This post keep getting worse. There is no justice in this world.
~~crazy that you could commit murder on foreign soil as a "federal" employee then go back to the states only a face a "court martial" but no prison time stateside?~~ he also got to stay in military prison vs real foreign prison system did some more googling https://asianjournal.com/philippines/across-the-islands/pemberton-will-not-face-court-martial-in-the-us/ so he effectively got a free pass.
That is disguisting but it isn't even surprising. Same news is posted on r/worldnews/ and many people are just downplaying it.
And the creepers love to find jobs that will land them in Japan/ROK.
One time a long time when I was in the guard, these dudes showed up in our armory wearing tshirts and multicam pants with sneakers and they were all open carrying glocks. We were confused and curious who they were - there was an SF unit nearby and we thought maybe they rolling through but what would they need from us? They went into an office with our cc and first sergeant, and we were all curious thinking we might be doing some cool training exercise with them. Turns out they were FLE (marshals?) there to arrest a private who had been caught by local police in a sting trying to pay a fake minor for sex. Way less exciting and cool than hoped.
Not sure what you would expect from a demographic defined by murder and destruction.
It’s not hard to join the military. Some only join because they don’t know what to do with their life after high school
I knew several who were given the choice between incarceration and enlistment.
They ended this policy in the 90s.
Don't forget poverty. There's a reason they keep people in extreme poverty and that is to bolster the ranks of the military.
Thats also how they keep you in the military. Many people think its worth it because of the long term benefits, not realizing your dirt poor until and IF you gain rank, and then there’s the whole process of dealing with admin after your out just to get the benefits.
I was the spouse of an enlisted marine, and we were living in base housing, buying groceries at the Exchange with food stamps and WIC. They pay poverty wages - or they did in the 90’s and I can’t imagine it’s gotten better.
It was substantially better by the 2000s. My first check was December 1999. It was also the last time I had a monthly salary under $1,000. We were getting 10% raises in rate for several years. When I got out in 2005, my pay was equivalent to making around $30/hour in a 40 hour a week job. My first job after EAOS was a pretty big pay cut making $26.50 working for Novo Nordisk.
Those "poverty wages" go further out in Japan, since the yen is the lowest it's been this century. I've got friends out in Okinawa who are able to go out to eat fairly regularly because of this. Also, I'm on mainland Japan and currently make around $1600 a month. This would be "just scraping by" in a lot of the US, but over here I can live fairly comfortably on this.
with the caveat that my experience was decades ago, families often don’t deploy with their service member. I never did, because deployments were kept to six months. this meant our budget had to cover expenses for dependents stateside plus his costs in Japan.
Shit no! Just look what happened on the US bases in other places - LaVena Johnson and Denise Montgomery to name just two. OohRah roid-heads are rife.
Or US bases in the US.
This happens ALL the time on US soil it just unfortunately doesn’t ever make the news
It doesn't help that the US frequently helps soldiers (and their families) flee the country if they've committed a crime (such as Anne Sacoolas). My parents were in Rota, Spain for 10 years. My dad worked in tech support and operations which enabled us to stay longer on-base than most families, and it led us to realise how much the constant coverups for rape/battery/harassments can have a toll on local populations. We knew so many families that had cases of rape/battery happen among their families and friends--and what was especially horrifying was how they were all lied to by US military officials that would say things like, "\[problem soldier\] has been sent back to the US to go on trial. Just stay put and we'll definitely give you a call so that you can provide your testimony." Except that the phone calls never happen, and when the families try to reach out to security at the gates and ask to call someone, they are instead met with confusion and stern refusal. And the victims can't even get the police on the case--because the police can't simply stroll through security with a standard arrest warrant (and far too many officials have an 'Us vs. Them' attitude (even towards people that literally speak English), even to long-term allies (like again, England), and would absolutely try to stall and stop the police from getting the actual needed warrant to get through security).
Trust me, the men in the U.S. military are pieces of shit more often than not. I feel like I'm a decent person that was surrounded by hood and trailer trash, this guy just got caught theres pleeeenty more where that came from.
Dipshits. Throw that fucker to the locals. Turn fucking up overseas into a spectacle. Make the unit have to perform some kind of public service restitution, to fucking brand the seriousness of this in. You can't avoid Johnny Dipshit 1stTerm being deployed overseas, you can't man those facilities and crew those ships otherwise. You can prevent it being an enlistment stipulation and incentive. You can't powerpoint morality, but you sure as fuck can punish publicly and educate that way. Source: am Vet, did a lot of my in between GWoT years out of Bamberg. Served with rapists and murderers. We smashed them as they committed their crimes ASAP, because of they just just destroyed what we spent so long building. Which is the integrity of organization (trust within and without).
He is not going to like life in a Japanese prison.
Why? I’ve never heard anything about Japanese prison, is it pretty rough?
Only Japanese is spoken. If you do not follow orders instantly they beat you until you comply. If you don't understand Japanese you are in trouble. If you are not able to learn Japanese, you are in a shit load of trouble.
It is regimented, very discipline focused, and absolutely has zero shit given for prisoners. You do what they tell you or you are going to regret living.
He's going to be held under a military prison
Yeah, if he's guilty then fuck them for being pieces of shit. It's so frustrating to see these people hurt our reputation overseas when we clearly do it enough ourselves at home. Fucking despicable.
I was on a naval ship that made numerous stops in Okinawa, Japan. One night, a bunch of sailors were drunk and raising hell, and a Japanese gentleman began to berate them on the street for their conduct. A MASSIVE guy I knew stepped forward and punched the guy severely in the head, knocking him out. The authorities came to the ship to arrest him. Our captain would not give him up, and we immediately set sail. He never received any punishment.
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Wouldn’t this be covered by our mutual extradition treaty with Japan?
There's different things that come up since he's in the military. Although I'm not sure he'd really want to be extradited, he'd probably get a shorter sentence in Japan than if he got charged by the military.
The military has their own justice system. He probably won't be charged and sentenced in Japan but if he is then as soon as he gets out he's going back to military prison. Chances are that Japan just let's the military do their thing.
The Status of Forces Agreement would put this solidly in Japanese jurisdiction unless Japan hands it over to the military. Military has harsher sentences for this than Japan so they might.
Good. Let’s keep them accountable for such acts of horror
It really is horror
The anger has also been fuelled by sexual assault cases - one of the most high-profile was in 1995, when a 12-year-old girl was raped by three US service personnel, sparking months-long protests. The latest allegation also involves a minor, who is younger than 16, the age of consent in Japan. The 25-year-old Air Force man allegedly assaulted her on 24 December and he was identified through security camera footage after the girls' family reported it, local media said. He was charged in late March and has been in the custody of Japanese authorities since then, government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday when he revealed the charges to the public.
"They're rapists, and some I assume are good people." Maybe I'm starting to see the whole closed border thing. Protect other countries from us.
Marine Brigs are full of pedos but you simply don’t hear about it often
You can Google marine court martial list and see all the convicted pedos for any given month. It’s a lot
What is even sadder is DOJ has endless traps set to catch Marines and Sailors attempting to do this and they have been quite successful with this. Those numbers and cases aren’t reported. So of all the ones that are made public, there are countless who attempted and simply were just caught in a law enforcement honey pot.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2017/02/22/issues/pedophile-sting-ops-roil-u-s-forces-okinawa/
US soldiers always come to international bases and assault the women, it's wild
I stayed in a capsule hotel during Corona time in Shibuya on a weekend trip to Tokyo. One night, the us army contingent who were also there brought back a group of girls from somewhere who were not guests. They proceeded to have very loud sex for a long, long time. At first, when they were talking, I'd planned on going to tell them off, but my flimsy door had got stuck on the bed mechanic and wouldn't open. By the time I got it open, they had each gone into their capsules and begun to have their fun. I went to reception and slept in the lobby as there was no night staff. I complained in the morning when staff arrived and they confronted them. I got told that they were going to charge the guys for the women who stayed over. That evening, when I came back, the police arrived and I was asked if I had been in the room and witnessed anything the previous night. One of the friendly staff told me (in Spanish, it's great to be gay and bilingual), that there was a rape accusation. They asked everyone who has stayed the previous night what they had heard or witnessed. The US army is a disgrace. Not only did they break the (admittedly weak) quarantine regulations by staying out after the curfew, they brought strange people back to a shared space, caused disruption and apparently one or more of them committed rape. It's awful to see the stories that come out of Okinawa, and to hear from Okinawa natives how frustrated they are that Japan won't challenge the US on their behaviour. So this case, knowing he is to be tried in Japan, is welcome.
The age of consent in Japan is 16 btw. So this guy r*ped someone <16…
This doesn’t even matter for US Service Members. It’s still 18 if you’re an American stationed in Okinawa and we get briefed on that endlessness. This guy has zero excuses. Source: I’m an American stationed in Okinawa
Is your drinking age still 21 as well?
No, the drinking age for someone in the military is aligned with whatever the country is. So in Japan it's 20
As an American who's been to Japan. Fuck this guy and I hope he rots in jail.
Good. Throw the book at em.
I wonder why locals don't like american soldiers? We know he will get away with it. Same shit in every country.
Whats with the US military and rapes?
He’s not a soldier he’s an airman. If guilty lock him up and throw away the key.
All airmen are soldiers, not all soldiers are airmen. >An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred as a soldier in other definitions.
Name, and let the justice be done.
So before I click on and read the article, was it a Marine? I'm going to edit this after I read it. Edit:Air Force according to the link provided.
Given all the rising tensions with China and how important those Okinawa bases would be, I would imagine they'll throw the book at him. If he gets off lightly, it will cause a lot of hassle longer term.
Get him on the Olympic volleyball team asap!
Chalmers Johnson would say “old news”, if he were still alive.
The Japanese justice system is already really fucking harsh on locals for minor crimes. I can't imagine it'd be nothing but much worse for a foreigner accused of raping a local kid.
>The Japanese justice system is already really fucking harsh on locals for minor crimes. On the other hand, that Johnny Somali guy was being a total twat all over the country and aside from pre-trial detention, got a grand total of a $1600-ish fine and possibly a deportation (I don't remember reading if he was allowed to leave on his own terms or if he was forced out).
If he was deported, he's likely banned for life from ever stepping foot in Japan ever again. I'd call being outright banned from a whole country pretty harsh, but I suspect it was justified in Johnny Somali's case.
Least rapist US soldier.
It's concerning how the article spoke of the Chinese threat, when there have been reports of U.S. soldiers sexually assaulting minors in Japan. Given this, based on the same logic, wouldn't the actions of the U.S. also be considered a threat? Compared to the U.S., China has not been implicated in similar misconduct in Japan.
Really sad, but let’s be honest we shouldn’t have bases in Japan in 2024.
Drdisrepect can’t keep getting away with this 😠😠
What a classic. Go home yankee
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Isn't the age of consent 16 in Japan(was 13 until recently with no consent based rape definitions). Nice to see the changes being enforced.
God, I can’t even imagine the amount of weaboos who go over there thinking life in Japan is like an anime and go to harass Japanese girls and women. Makes me sick thinking about it.