US soldier charged in Okinawa for rape of minor

schizoidman@lemmy.ml to World News@lemmy.world – 173 points –
US soldier charged in Okinawa for rape of minor
bbc.com
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Glad to see that the US military seems to be cooperating with the investigation, at least.

The US military's refusals in the past to hand over one of their own hurts their credibility and their soft power. No one is above the law, not even the military.

This soldier won't see real repercussions for this. At worst he will he courmarshalled and get a dishonorable discharge and nothing else.

This soldier is currently in Japanese custody, not American.

I was stationed at MCAS Futenma on Okinawa. The US shows no mercy when it comes to crimes against the local residents. Usually the Japanese legal system gets them first then after they spend time in Japanese prison they face the military legal system. We get a whole week of classes when we first get to the island about Japanese culture and they make sure to impress upon how fucked you will be if you cause an international incident. Even minor offenses such as underage drinking are dealt with very harshly. There were two Marines from my squadron sent to Corrective Custody Unit for drinking underage at an off limits bar.

Typically getting court marshalled comes with time spent at Leavenworth

And how much time is that? Rape of a minor is something that can easily go into 5-10 years range in a civillian court in many countries.

Depending on what UCMJ articles he gets charged with typically 15-30 years

This soldier won’t see real repercussions for this. At worst he will he courmarshalled and get a dishonorable discharge and nothing else.

Uh... A court martial is typically equivalent to a felony. If you're found guilty it's often associated with prison time and civilian felony statuses.