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SEOUL — A Seoul prosecutor has recommended a U.S. soldier be indicted for aggravated rape in connection with a Jan. 14 attack, the prosecutor confirmed Friday afternoon.

Prosecutor Jeung Soo-shin forwarded his recommendation to the Seoul Central Prosecutor’s Office last week, he said.

“The suspect will be indicted soon, although we cannot say exactly when,” Jeung said.

The soldier, 23-year-old Pvt. Geronimo Ramirez, has been in South Korean police custody since he was apprehended near the scene, police have said.

He is accused of beating a 67-year-old South Korean woman woman and raping her in the attack in Seoul’s Hongdae neighborhood, police said.

In a handwritten letter to the woman, which defense attorney Jin Hyo-guen provided to Stars and Stripes, the soldier apologized to the woman but said he didn’t remember anything because he was heavily intoxicated.

On Friday, Jin said the soldier is adjusting well in the Seoul Corrections confinement facility.

Jin said he’s tried repeatedly to meet with the woman and her family but they refuse to see him or to talk about his client.

“I understand that,” he said. “It seems that it takes time for them to get stabilized.”

The woman remains hospitalized, Jin said.

U.S. Forces Korea officials have refused to confirm the soldier’s identity unless he is indicted.

A 2nd Infantry Division spokeswoman would confirm only that a Company E, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment soldier was in South Korean custody.

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