CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Criminal charges against a former Marine major whose controversial attempted rape trial played out on Okinawa for 19 months remain in limbo in a West Virginia court.
Michael Brown, 44, of McKavett, Texas, faces charges of kidnapping and grand larceny in connection with the alleged abduction of a teenager from a flea market in Milton, W.Va., in October 2005. On Wednesday, his trial was delayed for a fifth time since his indictment in January 2006, according to the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch.
The trial now is set for Aug. 28.
Brown was arrested by Okinawa police in November 2002 on charges he attempted to rape a Filipina barmaid who had given him a ride to his off-base home from the Camp Courtney Officers Club.
In July 2004, he was convicted of a lesser charge of attempting an indecent act and destroying her cell phone. He was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years.
Brown returned to the U.S. and was awaiting administrative action on his discharge from the Marine Corps after 21 years of service when he was charged in the West Virginia incident.
On Feb. 1, 2006, he was demoted to captain in connection with the Okinawa case and involuntarily retired.
In the West Virginia case, he is charged with kidnapping Lun Jin, then 19, on Oct. 2, 2005, from a flea market where she and her father sold rare coins. Jin told police Brown identified himself as a federal law officer investigating the sale of fraudulent coins and forced her into his SUV, claiming he had to take her in for questioning.
West Virginia police said the teenager escaped from the vehicle about two hours later when he pulled off the road and attempted to molest her.
He also is accused of taking coins valued at more than $1,000 from her father.
Brown is free on $75,000 bond, conditional on staying away from West Virginia except for court appearances.
