Army sergeant held as new rape accusations surface

“The U.S. Army takes this matter very seriously,” said Dorothy Vick, a spokeswoman for the Army at Torii Station. “Currently, Army authorities are investigating and will continue to fully cooperate with the police.”

The report of the incident comes amid an ongoing uproar over crimes and misconduct among U.S. servicemembers on Okinawa and in Japan, most recently reignited by the alleged Feb. 10 rape of a 14-year-old Okinawa girl by a Marine.

That incident prompted Marine officials to order a two-day training stand-down last week to discuss ethics and professionalism with personnel. Last weekend, however, two more alleged alcohol-fueled crimes involving Marines were reported — a home break-in and drunken driving.

Those incidents prompted Marine Lt. Gen. Richard C. Zilmer to impose indefinite travel restrictions on all military personnel and Defense Department civilians on Okinawa bases, plus Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni and Camp Fuji on mainland Japan.

Initial media reports in the latest case said the woman was in Japan on a visa as an entertainer and that the soldier told investigators he paid her for sex at an Okinawa City hotel.

An employee of the hotel told Japanese reporters the soldier and woman checked into the hotel at 10 p.m. Feb. 17 and that he left at 9 a.m.

The rape allegation grew out of her visit to a local hospital for treatment for serious bleeding, according to media reports.

During a regular session of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly on Thursday, Police Commissioner Hachiro Tokutsu told legislators that a 21-year-old Philippine woman was in the hospital and the investigation is moving slowly because she is not fluent in Japanese or English.

The soldier is in Army custody, while Okinawa police continue their investigation. Under the terms of the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, the soldier can be held by military authorities until an indictment is filed in a Japanese court, or jurisdiction is returned to military authorities.

The recent incidents and demand from Japanese officials that strong steps be taken to curb U.S. military crime in Japan is expected to come up during Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Tokyo next week.

On Thursday Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told Shinichi Nishimiya, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s North American Affairs Bureau, that U.S. officials were aware of the damage done to relations with Japan.

“I expressed my great regret of the situation that has developed in Okinawa, my great concern about the feelings of the people of Okinawa and the fact that this is a very difficult time,” Hill told reporters after the meeting with Nishimaya.

Stars and Stripes reporter Chiyomi  Sumida contributed to this report.