US Serviceman Receives 5-Year Sentence for Raping Japanese Schoolgirl: Outrage Over Lenient Punishment
Brennon Washington, a 25-year-old US Air Force member, received a five-year prison sentence in Naha District Court for kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old girl in Okinawa. The judge cited the girl’s credible testimony and the significant age and power imbalance as factors in the “major sexual infringement.” Washington was handed over to Japanese authorities by the US military following his indictment in March. This incident, the latest in a series of crimes involving US personnel in Okinawa, has reignited long-standing tensions between local residents and the US military presence on the island.
John Q. Hosedrinker