The Naha District Public Prosecutors Office in Naha city, Okinawa, is pictured on Sept. 24, 2024. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Police on Okinawa suspect a U.S. Marine of sexually assaulting and injuring a woman in November, the fourth such case to surface over the past year.

Okinawa Prefectural Police on Wednesday forwarded the case against the Marine, in his 30s, to the Naha Public Prosecutors Office, a police spokesman said by phone that day.

The Marine, who was not identified, is suspected of sexually assaulting and injuring a woman older than 20 whom he did not know in a building on Okinawa in November, the spokesman said. The woman reported the incident to police immediately after it occurred, he added.

Police sent the case to prosecutors after interviewing the woman and the Marine and reviewing footage from security cameras, the spokesman said. He declined to say where the incident took place.

The Marine is in U.S. military custody, he said.

The prosecutors office has received the case from police but hasn’t made a decision on charges yet, a spokesman said by phone Wednesday.

Some Japanese government officials may speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.

The III Marine Expeditionary Force is “aware of allegations of criminal misconduct against an Okinawa-based U.S. service member,” spokeswoman 1st Lt. Isabel Izquierdo said by email Wednesday. She declined to identify the service member or provide any further information, including his whereabouts.

The Marine Corps is “cooperating with all appropriate local authorities throughout the process,” she wrote.

“The alleged behavior does not reflect the core values of the U.S. Military, nor does it represent the conduct of the overwhelming majority of Okinawa-based service members,” she added.

The case follows three others last year that strained the U.S. military’s relationship with Okinawa.

Last month, Senior Airman Brennon Washington was convicted of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in December 2023 and sentenced to five years in prison with hard labor. He has appealed the decision.

Washington was indicted in March, but his case wasn’t revealed to the public until June.

A Marine lance corporal indicted in June in a separate case of attempted sexual assault further angered Okinawan government officials, including Gov. Denny Tamaki. They lodged formal complaints with the Japanese government, U.S. military commands and U.S. Embassy Tokyo.

In September, another Marine lance corporal was charged with injuring a woman during a sexual assault.

The allegations against service members prompted U.S. Forces Japan to amend liberty rules for all service branches across Japan and the Marines on Okinawa to impose gate checks for sobriety.

The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly has called for changes to the status of forces agreement governing the U.S. military population in Japan.