Japan condemns GI sex crimes

Sat, 13 Jan 2001 | Source: REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters): Japan demanded on Friday that the U.S. military take strict punitive measures to prevent sex crimes by its servicemen, only a week after all curfew restrictions on troops were lifted on the southern island of Okinawa.

The demand was prompted by the arrest on Tuesday of Corp. Raven Gogol, 21, on suspicion of molesting a 16-year-old local girl on Okinawa.

Police said Gogol suddenly approached the girl in the dark, lifted up her skirt and took a photograph of her underwear. Toshitsugu Saito, the head of Japan's Defense Agency, or military, called the incident deplorable and urged the U.S. military to take measures to prevent a repeat of similar incidents.

Senior vice minister of the Cabinet Office, Seiji Nakamura, discussed the incident with a senior U.S. embassy official and demanded tough punitive action against servicemen who commit such offenses.

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