Camp Foster is home to Marine Corps Installations Pacific on Okinawa. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
NAHA CITY, Okinawa — Japanese prosecutors have indicted a U.S. Marine on charges of sexually assaulting a Japanese woman and injuring another in a restroom on a Marine Corps base in March.
Pfc. Austin R. Wedington, 27, of California, was charged with forcible sexual intercourse, committing an indecent act, and causing injury, according to a copy of the indictment from the Naha Public Prosecutors Office.
The case is one of several involving U.S. military personnel accused of sexual assault on Okinawa over the past year, incidents that have reignited public concern over the American troop presence on the southern island prefecture.
The alleged assault occurred on Camp Foster, where Wedington serves as a correction and detention specialist with the Headquarters and Service Battalion, said 1st Lt. Grant Hoel, a spokesman for Marine Corps Installations Pacific.
Wedington was being held Wednesday at the Camp Hansen brig and will be transferred to Japanese custody at the Naha Detention Center, Hoel said by email that day.
Wedington worked at the Hansen brig before being reassigned to Foster, Maj. Brett Dornhege-Lazaroff, another command spokesman, said by phone Wednesday.
Prosecutors allege that Wedington grabbed a woman by the neck, forced her against a toilet stall door and penetrated her with his fingers. A second woman, who tried to intervene, was allegedly stomped in the face and then placed in a rear chokehold, causing bruising, a neck sprain, and a shoulder abrasion.
The first woman is a Japanese civilian employee on the base, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported April 24.
An unidentified Marine heard the incident and “rushed to assist, preventing possible further action by the alleged perpetrator,” Hoel said.
Under the U.S.-Japan status of forces agreement, Japanese authorities have primary jurisdiction over criminal cases involving Japanese citizens or property.
“The U.S. will monitor the trial proceedings without interfering in the Japanese judicial process,” Hoel said. “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.”
The indictment follows several recent cases involving U.S. service members on Okinawa. In December, a Japanese court convicted Senior Airman Brennon R.E. Washington of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor. He was sentenced to five years in prison with labor and has appealed.
Two Marines — Lance Cpls. Jamel Clayton and Michael Hofmaster — face separate sexual assault charges from last year. Clayton is scheduled to go on trial June 2 in Naha District Court. Hofmaster’s court date has not been set.
On April 7, Okinawa police referred Wedington and another Marine to prosecutors on separate sexual assault allegations. Prosecutors dropped the second case on April 24.
In response to mounting public criticism, U.S. Forces Japan introduced new liberty restrictions in October, barring service members from visiting off-base drinking establishments between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.
On April 18, U.S. military officials joined Okinawa police and government leaders in a joint patrol of a nightlife area outside Kadena Air Base – the first such patrol since 1974, according to prefectural police.
The first formal forum for cooperation between U.S. military and Okinawan leaders is slated for May 9, according to USFJ.
