1995 Okinawan rape incident

The 1995 Okinawan rape incident refers to a rape that took place on September 4, 1995, when three U.S. servicemen, U.S. Navy Seaman Marcus Gill and U.S. Marines Rodrico Harp and Kendrick Ledet, all from Camp Hansen on Okinawa, rented a van and kidnapped a 12-year-old 6th-grade Japanese girl. They beat her, duct-taped her eyes and mouth shut, and bound her hands. Gill and Harp then proceeded to rape her, while Ledet claims he only pretended to do so out of fear of Gill. The incident led to further debate over the continued presence of U.S. forces in Japan.

Reaction

After the incident became known, public outrage erupted, especially over the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, which gives the U.S. the right of extraterritoriality. While the crime was committed off of a U.S. military base, the U.S. initially took the men into custody, but later handed them over to Japanese law enforcement to be tried.

According to the Status of Forces Agreement, article xvii (5) (c): "The custody of an accused member of the United States armed forces or the civilian component over whom Japan is to exercise jurisdiction shall, if he is in the hands of the United States, remain with the United States until he is charged." The suspects were on base restriction until the Japanese officials charged them with the crimeFact|date=September 2007. The outrage over the attack caused the largest anti-American demonstrations in Okinawa since the treaty was signed in 1960. As a consequence, the U.S. made concessions and agreed to consider handing suspects over to the Japanese before an indictment if the severity of the alleged crime indicated it. This agreement was hashed out at an emergency meeting between U.S. President Bill Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. The people of Okinawa also placed a full-page ad in the "New York Times" decrying the rape and other aspects of the U.S. bases in Okinawa.Fact|date=September 2007 In 1996, the United States and Japan signed a bilateral agreement to reduce the amount of land on Okinawa covered by U.S. bases by 21 percent—the U.S. military had previously occupied 19 percent of the island.Fact|date=September 2007

U.S. Navy Admiral Richard C. Macke was the commander of United States Pacific Command at the time of the attack. At a press conference in November 1995, Macke said of the men's actions: "I think it was absolutely stupid. I have said several times: for the price they paid to rent the car [used in the crime] , they could have had a girl [prostitute] ." These remarks were condemned as insensitive and Macke was removed from his post and forced into early retirement. He was also reduced in rank to rear admiral (two star) from full admiral (four-star), which reduced his pension from US$ 7,384/month to US$ 5,903/month.Eisman, Dale. "Retired Pacific Admiral is Censured "Unduly Familiar" Relationship with Marine Corps Office is Cited." "The Vigilant Pilot". 16 Oct. 1996. [http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1996/vp961016/10160391.htm] ]

Trial

The Japanese judicial system encourages guilty pleas, generally acting more leniently to those who plead guilty and admit remorse. Gill pleaded guilty to the rape, and the other two men pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

Prosecutors had asked for the maximum sentences for the men, 10 years each. The judge—there were no juries in Japan at this point—gave Gill and Harp seven years; Ledet received six and a half years. Their families also paid "reparation money" to the family of the victim, a common practice in Japan.

Aftermath

The three men served prison terms in Japanese prisons and were released in 2003 and then given dishonorable discharges from the military. After release, Rodrico Harp decried prison conditions in Japan and said that the electronics assembly prison labor he was forced to do amounted to slave labor. [Allen, David. "Ex-Marine decries nature of Japan prison work." "Stars and Stripes, Pacific Edition". 18 July 2004. [http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=22396&archive=true] ]

Ledet, who had claimed he did not rape the girl, died in 2006 in an apparent murder-suicide in the United States. He was found in the third-floor apartment of Lauren Cooper, a junior Kennesaw State University student and acquaintance whom he had apparently sexually assaulted and then murdered (by strangulation). It appears that he then took his own life by slashing his wrists. [Allen, David. "Former Marine who sparked Okinawa furor is dead in suspected murder-suicide." "Stars and Stripes, Pacific Edition". 25 Aug. 2006. [http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=38629&archive=true] ]

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