7-Year Imprisonment Sought for U.S. Serviceman in Okinawa

   Naha, Okinawa Pref., Oct. 25 (Jiji Press)--A seven-year prison term was sought on Friday for a U.S. serviceman charged with kidnapping and raping an underage Japanese girl in Okinawa Prefecture.
   In their closing arguments at Naha District Court, public prosecutors said security camera footage and other evidence indicated that the defendant, Brennon Washington, 25, who belongs to the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base in the southernmost Japan prefecture, knew the girl was below 16 years old.
   "The motive was for satisfying his lust and was malicious," they said, describing the defendant as "selfish and self-indulgent."
   According to the indictment, he took the girl by car from a park in the central part of Okinawa's main island to his home and committed sexual assaults on Dec. 24 last year while knowing she was underage.
   Meanwhile, the defense demanded that Washington be acquitted because she went along with him and because he was believing she was 18.

(2024/10/25-21:39)

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