Courts-martial dates are set for four Iwakuni Marines accused of gang-raping a Hiroshima woman in October, the Marine Corps said Wednesday.
The men face separate trials at the air station beginning in late April and ending in May, base spokesman Master Gunnery Sgt. John Cordero said.
Gunnery Sgt. Carl M. Anderson, Gunnery Sgt. Jarvis D. Raynor, Sgt. Lanaeus J. Braswell and Lance Cpl. Larry A. Dean are charged with crimes that include rape, conspiracy and kidnapping. They have been confined on base since the allegations surfaced in October.
The Marines were referred to general courts-martial after a preliminary hearing in February that featured testimony by the accuser, a Japanese woman who was a 19-year-old minor during the Oct. 14 incident.
Japanese prosecutors declined to indict the Marines in November after their own investigation.
The woman testified she left a Hiroshima club with Braswell on Oct. 14 to have consensual sex in a vehicle with one of the Marines, but was kidnapped by the four men and forced to have sex about five times in a nearby parking lot.
The Marines pushed her from the vehicle and stole about 12,000 yen from her purse, she said.
The woman admitted drinking alcohol and initially lying to police when she was picked up after the incident. She said she didn’t tell police because she was frightened and ashamed.
Defense attorneys said the woman continued to lie to police for weeks during the rape investigation and made up the crimes to avoid punishment from the police and her mother.
The courts-martial come when the U.S. military is attempting to crack down on crimes by servicemembers.
Courts-martial
Here are the courts-martial dates:
Sgt. Lanaeus J. Braswell, April 21-25.
Lance Cpl. Larry A. Dean, May 6-9.
Gunnery Sgt. Carl M. Anderson, May 19-23.
Gunnery Sgt. Jarvis D. Raynor, May 21-23.
Source: U.S. Marine Corps
