US Marine Jailed for Abusing 14-year-old Japanese Girl

A US military court in Japan today sentenced a US marine to four years in prison for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl in a case that prompted renewed anger at the huge American military presence on the island of Okinawa.

Tyrone Hadnott, a staff sergeant, was arrested on February 11 on suspicion of raping the unnamed girl, prompting US military authorities to impose a 24-hour curfew that lasted almost two weeks.

Japanese prosecutors later dropped the charges after the girl, apparently fearful of being exposed in the media, withdrew her allegations.

Hadnott, 38, met the girl at an ice cream parlor and offered her a lift home on his motorbike. Instead, he took her to his off-base residence and, according to Japanese police, raped her in his car after she pleaded to be driven home.

Today the military court found him guilty of "abusive sexual conduct," but dropped four other charges, including rape of a child under the age of 16 and kidnapping by deception, as part of a plea bargain.

Hadnott, who faced a maximum sentence of 15 years in jail, will be imprisoned for three years, with the final year of his sentence suspended.

Hadnott insisted he had been unaware of his victim's age and claimed only to have touched her underwear.

"I touched her in a sexual manner over clothing ... I was gratifying my sexual desire, sir," he was quoted as telling the court at Camp Foster on Okinawa. "[There is] no excuse for my action and no way to express how sorry I am."

Though it covers just 1% of Japan's total land area, Okinawa is home to more than half of the 50,000 US troops based in the country, and a focal point for anti-US sentiment.

In 1995, tens of thousands of Okinawans took to the streets to demand the closure of US bases after three US servicemen were arrested for abducting and raping a 12-year-old girl.

In response, the US and Japan agreed to relocate 8,000 troops from the island to the US territory of Guam by 2014, in what will be one of the biggest realignments of US troops for decades.