MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan — An Iwakuni lance corporal was found not guilty Thursday of kidnapping and raping a Japanese woman in October.
Lance Cpl. Larry Dean was, however, found guilty during his court-martial of sexual misconduct for having sex with the woman without getting her consent.
Dean pleaded guilty Tuesday to a list of lesser charges including having sex in the view of others, fraternizing with superiors, breaking liberty rules and drinking while underage. He was to be sentenced Friday.
Three other Iwakuni Marines — Gunnery Sgt. Carl M. Anderson, Gunnery Sgt. Jarvis D. Raynor and Sgt. Lanaeus J. Braswell — also face courts-martial for allegedly kidnapping the 19-year-old from outside a city club and gang raping her in a deserted parking lot Oct. 14.
The woman sat in the back of the courtroom Thursday and sobbed as the verdict was read by the judge, Maj. Charles Hale.
Hale said the woman appeared willing to have sex that night by leaving the club parking lot with the Marines and allowing them to touch her naked body.
“She gave the appearance of consent,” Hale said.
The Marines had sex with the woman six times after arriving at the second parking lot, Hale said.
After his first contact, Dean noticed she wasn’t enjoying sex with the men anymore but had sex with her a second time anyway, making him negligent and guilty of sexual misconduct, Hale said.
The alleged victim said she was raped by the men and pretended to enjoy it at first because she feared for her life.
Since the incident, the woman said she has difficulty sleeping, working and being alone.
“The things I did alone, I can no longer do alone,” the woman said through an interpreter. “I really have to build up my courage just to go outside.”
She took the stand Tuesday and for two days during a preliminary investigative hearing in February. Stars and Stripes does not identify the victims of alleged sexual assault.
The woman left Club Chinatown in Hiroshima to have consensual sex with Braswell in a vehicle in the club parking lot, according to testimony and investigators.
The other men entered the vehicle and drove to another deserted parking lot where they all had sex with her at least once, according to court records.
They forced her out of the vehicle and took 12,000 yen from her purse before leaving her lost and disoriented, according to testimony.
Police picked up the woman wandering the streets around 3 a.m. with her blouse and belt undone.
The Marines were arrested while attempting to re-enter the air station.
As part of a plea agreement, Dean agreed to assist the prosecution of the other Marines in exchange for a cap on any possible prison sentence.
The next court-martial is scheduled to begin later this month.
