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(Mass.gov)

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — A Marine from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni has been arrested for allegedly groping a Japanese woman at a ski resort in Shimane prefecture, officials said.

Lance Cpl. Adam Scott Bennett, 20, was arrested Sunday at the Mizuho Highland Mountain and Snow Resort after he allegedly touched a 25-year-old female skier inappropriately, a Shimane Prefectural Police spokesman said Monday afternoon. The incident was purportedly witnessed by two of the woman’s male acquaintances who called police and detained Bennett until they arrived.

Bennett denies the allegations and said he bumped into the woman, the spokesman said.

Marine Corps officials said Bennett belongs to Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, according to a base spokesman. He was still in Japanese custody Tuesday afternoon.

“The Marine Lance Corporal is suspected of having made inappropriate, unsolicited physical contact, in the form of groping, with a local national female from Hiroshima Prefecture during a daytime outing at the resort,” a Marine Corps statement said. “Japanese authorities are currently investigating the matter and we are fully cooperating with their investigation.”

Police said they intend to refer the case to the prosecutor’s office, where Bennett could face indecent assault charges.

news@stripes.com

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