The Gunners Fitness Center at Camp Foster, Okinawa, is pictured on May 20, 2026. A Marine accused of assault in the gym restroom claims sleep disorder insanity defense ahead of June trial. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
NAHA, Okinawa — A U.S. Marine accused of sexually assaulting a Japanese woman and injuring another will rely on a defense of insanity due to a sleep disorder when his case comes to trial in June, his attorney said Wednesday.
Pfc. Austin Wedington, 28, of California, should not be held responsible for an incident prosecutors allege occurred on March 18, 2025, according to a Feb. 12 filing by attorney Tetsu Amakata in Naha District Court. Amakata’s pleading was partially read in court by Presiding Judge Tomohiko Shinomiya on Wednesday.
The defendant was showing symptoms of parasomnia and was in a state of insanity during every act he is accused of in the indictment, according to Amakata’s filing.
Parasomnia is an umbrella term for disruptive sleep disorders that include sleepwalking, sleep terrors, sleep talking and sleep paralysis, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Article 39 of Japan’s penal code states that “actions due to insanity are not subject to punishment.”
Wedington pleaded not guilty Nov. 18 to forcible sexual intercourse and guilty to injuring the second woman before a three-judge panel presided over by Judge Kazuhiko Obata.
Prosecutor Kazutaka Maeda alleged in court that day that Wedington entered the women’s restroom in Gunners Fitness Center on Camp Foster, climbed into a stall occupied by the first woman, 20 at the time, and grabbed her mouth.
The second woman — a Gunners employee who was 50 at the time — tried to intervene, Maeda said in court. Wedington stomped her in the face and placed her in a rear chokehold, causing bruising, a neck sprain and a shoulder abrasion, Maeda said.
After she escaped, Wedington sexually assaulted the first woman, Maeda said.
The second woman returned about seven minutes later with another Marine, who broke down the door and held Wedington back as the woman ran away, Maeda said.
Another prosecutor submitted additional evidence in court Wednesday, including 10 minutes of video footage that was not aired publicly. The Naha Public Prosecutors Office declined to identify the new prosecutor by phone after the hearing.
The first woman, identified in court only as “A,” will testify June 9, Shinomiya said. The second woman is scheduled to testify July 1.
Amakata plans to call a doctor to testify during the trial about Wedington’s parasomnia, he told Stars and Stripes after the hearing.
Wedington’s is the third in a series of sexual assault cases to come to trial on Okinawa in the past two years.
In December 2024, the Naha court convicted Senior Airman Brennon Washington of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor. In June 2025, it convicted Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton of strangling and attempting to sexually assault a woman. Another case is pending against Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Hofmaster.
Those three cases led U.S. Forces Japan in October 2024 to prohibit off-base drinking by service members between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., and to begin police patrols of nightlife districts in Okinawa city and Naha. Wedington’s indictment came after the liberty order was issued and the patrols began.
