TOKYO -- A Japanese court on Friday convicted two United States Navy sailors in the rape of a woman on Okinawa last year that provoked so much local anger that the American military was forced to impose a curfew.
The court in Naha, the capital of the southwestern Japanese island, sentenced Christopher Browning, a 24-year-old seaman, to 10 years in prison, and Skyler Dozierwalker, 23, a petty officer 3rd class, to nine years for the October 2012 rape. The court also convicted Mr. Browning of robbing the victim of about $76.
The two Americans pleaded guilty to the charges.
The crime outraged many Okinawans, who say the American bases bring crime as well as noise pollution and safety hazards to their otherwise peaceful tropical island. These concerns have fed bubbling anger at the large American presence on Okinawa, which hosts more than half of the some 50,000 United States military personnel in Japan.
Public anger at the rape grew so strong that American commanders imposed a curfew on all United States military personnel in Japan. The crime came at a delicate time, as American bases on Okinawa were already facing protests over the deployment of a new aircraft, the tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey, which faced safety concerns.
The court ruled that the two Americans raped the woman in a parking lot in central Okinawa at 3:40 a.m. It said the attackers had inflicted physical injuries on the woman that took two weeks to heal.
In handing down the sentence, the presiding judge, Hideyuki Suzuki, called the Americans' actions "contemptible and violent." The two will serve their time in a Japanese prison.
Japanese Court Convicts 2 U.S. Sailors in Okinawa Rape
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Japanese Court Convicts 2 U.S. Sailors in Okinawa Rape
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Japanese Court Convicts 2 U.S. Sailors in Okinawa Rape
