US airman gets 5-year jail term for kidnapping, sexually assaulting teen girl in Japan

Brennon Washington’s case also sparked criticism as local police and Tokyo did not disclose the incident to the Okinawa government

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Residents stage a protest rally at Kadena Air Base in Japan’s Okinawa in June. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 3:29pm, 13 Dec 2024

A US air force member stationed in Okinawa prefecture was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16 in December last year.

The Naha District Court handed down the ruling on Brennon Washington, 25, who had pleaded not guilty. The case not only triggered fresh anti-base sentiment in the prefecture, which hosts the bulk of US military facilities in Japan, but also drew attention as local police and the central government did not disclose the incident to the prefectural government.

It was only in June this year, three months after his indictment, that the case came to light through a local media report, sparking protests from the prefectural government.

The following month, the central government reviewed information-sharing arrangements with local governments, vowing to notify municipalities of any crimes allegedly committed by US military members “without exception”.

According to the indictment, Washington, stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, allegedly asked the girl to speak to him in his car at a park in the village of Yomitan on December 24 last year and then drove her to his off-base residence before sexually assaulting her despite knowing she was under 16.

Under Japanese law, sexual intercourse with a person under 16 is illegal regardless of consent, with an exception made for cases in which an individual aged 13 to 15 has consensual intercourse with a person less than five years older than them.