After being found guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor, a U.S. airman stationed in Japan was given a five-year jail sentence on Friday.
On December 24, 2023, while serving at Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa, 25-year-old Senior Airman Brennon Washington contacted the girl, who was under 16, at a nearby park and brought her to his off-base home.
He was indicted in March for allegedly kidnapping her and having sex with her without her will, but the case wasn’t made public until June, which infuriated the local administration.
According to local media, Washington entered a not guilty plea when prosecutors urged the Naha District Court to sentence him to seven years in prison.
According to the Kyodo news agency, Judge Tetsuro Sato explained his decision by stating that Washington showed his contempt for the girl’s decision-making process regarding her sexual freedom, calling it heinous that he continued to have sex with the girl despite knowing she was under 16 and had not given her consent.
Regardless of consent, having sex with someone under the age of sixteen is typically prohibited in Japan.
Over 50,000 American troops are stationed in Japan, where U.S. service men have been implicated in numerous sexual assault and other criminal charges for decades. An continuous push to lessen the U.S. military presence in Okinawa has been fueled by the issue, which has long been a source of contention with the local population.
The host unit at Kadena Air Base, the 18th Wing, stated that it collaborated closely with local authorities during the entire affair.
In a statement released Friday, it stated that sexual assault is abhorrent and that it shares the local community’s indignation over this situation. Every member of the armed forces of the United States is expected to maintain the highest standards of behavior at all times.
The commander of the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans, expressed his serious concern about Washington’s actions and the harm he caused to the victim and her family.
He stated in a statement that sexual assault is a serious crime that in no way reflects the ideals of the thousands of American service troops who bravely defend the Japan-U.S. Alliance on Okinawa.
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