American tax dollars at work in Japan

[Guchi_Jnr]

You actually make it sound like you expect it to be higher, which brings me back to something I was going to say, but forgot to..

It's just that there's 50,000 American personnel and families there. That's about twice the size of the town I grew up in, and there seems to be a lower crime rate.

In comparison, I grew up in a town of 12,000 and never even heard of someone being raped...

[THUNDERDUCK]

He got released today after the parents dropped charges

[Guchi_Jnr]

The Naha District Public Prosecutors Office said Friday night it had decided not to indict a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant arrested on Feb. 11 on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old middle school girl, adding that it had released him.

The prosecutors decision came after the girl dropped the accusation against him earlier on Friday evening.

According to the prosecutors, the girl said to them, "That's enough, leave me alone."

"We must give maximum respect to the will of the victim," Yaichiro Yamashiki, chief prosecutor at the prosecutors office, said at a press conference. "In keeping with legal procedure, we dealt with the case in this way [by not indicting him] because the accusation was retracted."

"We've determined that it isn't appropriate to indict the suspect by applying charges...out of consideration for the victim's feelings," Yamashiki added.
Another rapist walks free..

[Asmodai]

Another rapist walks free..

So much for the presumption of innocence.

[Guchi_Jnr]

Glad to see that America hopefully won't let him walk as easily..

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer told Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Saturday that the U.S. military will continue its investigation into the alleged rape of a local junior high school girl by a U.S. Marine in February in Okinawa Prefecture.
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Staff Sgt. Tyrone Hadnott, 38, was arrested Feb. 11. He was released to U.S. base authorities Friday after his accuser dropped all charges against him.
Schieffer was quoted as telling Fukuda that the investigation will keep going despite Hadnott's release.
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In Washington on Friday, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the U.S. military will continue to probe the case despite the charges being dropped.
The probe will be carried out "to see what may or may not be done in terms of future legal action against this individual" because he, as a U.S. service member, has an obligation to follow U.S. law as well as Japanese law, Casey said.

[THUNDERDUCK]

I'm sure this guy will get court martialed.  You can always get the catch-all Article 15.  With the size of this case he's probably going to get a dishonorable discharge.

[Exemplice]

"We do not hate you as individuals. But as members of the US military organization, you are unwelcome here. Maybe you imagine you are protecting Okinawa. But because you are here, we never feel safe. Because you are here, we feel constant fear." -Okinawan English blog

After reading this paragraph, if this group think it can promote the idea of kicking US military out, they better think again.

As for my own insights, I think kicking the US military out is probably a last resort measure. As one can observe, they are still currently there, thus there is an agenda of goals we do not know or do know. I believe this is the reason why they have not been kicked out yet.

It also surprises me how this case has become so sensational. Rape is rape whether you're 50 years old or 14. I've heard of rape done to a baby before (search it up in Google's news section). The point is this case has been made sensational beyond what it's suppose to be. If you want to talk about how "shocked" or "appalled" you are of rape done to certain a person of x age then feel free but this is off topic of what a rape case is.

With all due respect, I hope this little girl is well. I hope she did not contract any STD. I also hope she was scolded well enough to understand to be cautious but to also receive the same amount of care and support (I would go with more care and support here because rape can be traumatizing to one's self psychology at this age).

For the soldier, I hope he did not do it in the first place, but if he did, then only justice can be served for him. Innocent until proven guilty.

[Guchi_Jnr]

U.S. sailor tied to taxi driver's death after credit card found in cab
A U.S. Navy sailor who went AWOL may have been involved in the slaying of a taxi driver here, according to police who found the serviceman's credit card in the cab.
According to police, Masaaki Takahashi, 61, was found fatally stabbed in his taxi with the engine still running around 9:20 p.m. Wednesday.
The incident apparently occurred in the Shioiricho district, which lies less than 1 kilometer from the sprawling Yokosuka Naval Base.
A knife with a blade about 20 centimeters long was embedded in his neck.
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Residents living near the crime scene reported hearing shouts. One reported hearing sounds in English.
A 61-year-old man said he heard what he thought was a loud "No" on Wednesday night.

The U.S. Navy has taken into custody a sailor whose credit card was found in the taxi of a driver found murdered in his cab in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

[Guchi_Jnr]

Update.

A U.S. Navy serviceman has admitted to fatally stabbing a taxi driver on March 19 near the Yokosuka Naval Base and could be handed over to Japanese authorities soon, police sources said Wednesday.

[Guchi_Jnr]

:bump:
The Japanese lawyer representing a 22-year-old U.S. Navy seaman who was arrested Thursday for the murder of a taxi driver last month in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, said Friday that his client told him he heard voices ordering him to stab someone.

Claimed he was innocent for the first 10 days, and now he's trying to be declared mentally incompetent.. 

In other news..
Sons of U.S. GIs arrested over holdup
Two sons of U.S. servicemen have been arrested by Japanese police over a taxi holdup in Okinawa Prefecture.
The two suspects, both 19, allegedly assaulted a 55-year-old taxi driver in the city of Okinawa on March 16 and robbed him of some ¥8,000, the police said.
They have admitted to the allegations, according to investigative sources.
Two other boys, aged 15 and 16, also sons of U.S. servicemen, were served fresh arrest warrants Friday over the alleged assault, following their initial arrest in March for another taxi holdup.

Guess it's true that apples don't fall far from the trees.

[Guchi_Jnr]

Update for the original topic..
The U.S. Marine arrested in February for allegedly raping a junior high school girl in Okinawa Prefecture will be court-martialed, the U.S. Marine Corps said Friday.
The marine, Tyrone Hadnott, 38, was released after the victim withdrew the accusation.
Hadnott has been charged with several violations of military law, including raping a child under 16 and kidnapping.
Glad someone is making him pay for his crimes..

[THUNDERDUCK]

Note, the sailor that killed the taxi driver was a Nigerian citizen.  Not an American.

[Guchi_Jnr]

Marine gets four years for sexually abusing girl, 14
The U.S. Marine Corps in Japan found a staff sergeant guilty Friday of sexual abuse of a teenage girl in Okinawa in February and sentenced him to four years in the brig, with one year suspended.
But Staff Sgt. Tyrone Hadnott, 38, was cleared of rape and other charges, including kidnapping through luring, Lt. Col. David S. Oliver, the presiding judge, said during a general court-martial at Camp Foster, convicting the accused of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Hadnott had waived his right to a pretrial investigative hearing, which effectively reduced his term to three years in prison, counting the suspended year. Prosecutors had recommended an eight-year term.

Better than nothing!!