Reporters covering an airman’s sexual assault and kidnapping charges stand outside Naha District Court on Okinawa, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)

NAHA CITY, Okinawa — A U.S. airman charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor on Okinawa in December previously assaulted the girl at a convenience store earlier last year, the girl testified in court Friday.

Senior Airman Brennon Richard Edward Washington, 25, made his second appearance in Naha District Court on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting the girl in December. The eight-hour session in front of a three-judge panel and a packed courtroom concluded at 6:40 p.m.

Judge Tetsuro Sato presided.

The case has sparked demonstrations on Okinawa, official complaints to high-ranking U.S. military commanders and made the agenda at a meeting of Cabinet members from both countries in late July.

The girl, who is younger than 16, testified for more than five hours behind a partition to protect her privacy, occasionally breaking into tears.

Washington, assigned to the 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Kadena Air Base, denied the charges at his first court appearance on July 12.

He sat silently and showed no emotion Friday. He is scheduled to testify for the first time on Aug. 30.

The girl testified that toward the end of July 2023, she and her younger sister were at a convenience store near their house when she “noticed someone watching” her. They left the store and were approached outside about two minutes later from behind by the same person in his car, she said.

The man — a “foreigner” — suggested they “meet on the weekend” at his home while pointing to one of three white houses nearby, the girl testified. He then hugged her and touched her bottom, kissed the girl’s sister on the cheek and kissed the girl on the lips using his tongue, the girl said.

She said the experience left her with “a phobia of men.”

Later in her testimony, while describing being approached by Washington on Dec. 24, 2023, she said the airman drove her in his car to the same house the man who approached her in July had pointed out.

“Did you think that the defendant was the same individual as back in July?” the prosecutor asked.

“Yes,” she said.

The girl said she was at the park looking at photos on her phone when Washington approached her from behind and started talking to her in Japanese. He asked her age, and she answered in Japanese, English and using her hands, she said. Washington responded by counting on his fingers, she testified.

Washington’s attorney told the court on July 12 that the airman admitted he “performed sexual actions” with the girl, but that he thought she was 18 years old.

The girl testified that she and Washington continued talking using a translator phone app. She said she got in Washington’s car, rode to his house and went inside because it was cold outside, and she was afraid of what he would do if she said no.

The girl testified that Washington kissed her with his tongue at his home. He then penetrated her vagina with his fingers and his tongue and touched her breast underneath her shirt, she said.

The girl testified that she had to repeat “stop” in English and Japanese several times before Washington stopped.

When asked by the prosecutor how she feels about Washington, the girl responded: “I want him to understand the severity of what he has done.”

During cross-examination, the girl told Washington’s attorney she was about 650 feet from the three houses when the man she said was Washington approached her in July.

The girl testified that at that time, she “understood through gestures and some words, he probably said ‘my house.’ Courtroom observers at times started crying during the girl’s testimony; Sato reprimanded a man who called out for the defense attorney to stop his questioning.

Sato moved to adjourn the hearing at 5:15 p.m. but instead allowed Washington’s attorney to question the girl’s mother.

The mother testified that she met her daughter at the parking lot of their house later that December day, and the girl suddenly started to cry and at first couldn’t speak.

“I was raped by a foreigner,” her daughter said, the mother testified.

Questioned by the prosecutor, the mother testified she didn’t report the July 2023 incident to police because she thought her daughter wasn’t touched. She thought the man only showed her daughter indecent photos, the mother said.

Washington’s case, and that of a Marine lance corporal charged in a separate case with attempted sexual assault, outraged Okinawa government officials, who made formal complaints to the Japanese government, the U.S. Embassy and military commands in Japan.

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