Top US Marine in Japan apologises for alleged rape by sailor
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 16 March, 2016, 8:19pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 16 March, 2016, 8:20pm
Kyodo
Lieutenant general Lawrence Nicholson (second left), Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga. Photo: Kyodo
The top commander of US military forces in Okinawa Prefecture apologised on Wednesday for an alleged rape Sunday by a Navy sailor of a Japanese woman at a hotel in the southern island prefecture.
Lieutenant general Lawrence Nicholson visited Governor Takeshi Onaga at the prefectural offices in the afternoon, expressing his “deepest regret and remorse” at the incident that is currently being investigated.
Onaga told Nicholson that he lodges a protest with “strong resentment and sorrow” against the latest incident.
Police on Sunday arrested 24-year-old Justin Castellanos, a seaman at the US Marines’ Camp Schwab in northern Okinawa, on suspicion of taking the female tourist into his room after finding her sleeping in the corridor at the Naha hotel and raping her there.
Lieutenant general Lawrence Nicholson (centre), the Okinawa-based top US Marine in Japan, apologises to Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga (right) at the prefectural offices in Naha on March 16, 2016, over an alleged rape of a Japanese woman by a Us serviceman at a hotel in the Okinawa capital. Photo: Kyodo
Onaga had conveyed on Monday his displeasure over the incident to Nicholson during their telephone conversation, and Nicholson said he will fully cooperate with the local police investigation.
The southernmost Japanese prefecture hosts the bulk of US military facilities in Japan and the local community has called for a reduction of the burden, including crimes and accidents involving US service members and civilians related to American bases.
