Marine accused of sexual assault was ‘out of his mind,’ fellow Marine testifies

NAHA, Okinawa — A Marine accused by Japanese prosecutors of sexual assault appeared impaired and behaved strangely before the incident in March 2025 in a Marine Corps gym bathroom, two witnesses testified in a Japanese court recently.

Pfc. Austin Wedington, 28, of California, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity on May 20 to forcible sexual intercourse of a Japanese woman and injuring a second woman, an employee at Gunners Fitness Center on Camp Foster, who tried to intervene.

The first woman, 20 at the time of the incident, testified June 9 that Wedington climbed into her stall in the women’s restroom, pinned her to the door and sexually assaulted her.

Wedington’s attorney Tetsu Amakata questioned another Marine, Sufyan Alnuzaly, a supply Marine in an infantry unit, for about an hour on July 7 in Naha District Court. Alnuzaly’s girlfriend, Suzuka Uejo, testified Wednesday.

Alnuzaly’s rank was not mentioned during the trial.

On March 18, 2025, Alnuzaly saw Wedington sleeping on the sofa in the gym lobby, recognized him from boot camp and woke him up, he testified.

Wedington was “drunk, out of his mind, impaired, and didn’t seem right — wasn’t making sense,” Alnuzaly said. Wedington’s eyes were bloodshot, he smelled of alcohol and he swayed from side to side, he said.

“He started talking about a lady chasing him, that a vampire is trying to kill him, and dragons,” Alnuzaly testified.

Wedington consumed alcohol and ibuprofen before the incident, which induced confusional arousal and sleepwalking, according to a defense brief submitted by Amakata.

Confusional arousal, also known as sleep drunkenness, is characterized by disorientation, confusion and slow response to stimuli upon waking from sleep, according to the Yale Medicine website. Episodes may last several hours and involve inappropriate behavior, memory impairment or difficulty in fully awakening.

Alnuzaly testified that he tried to escort Wedington out of gym, but he instead entered the weight room before walking to the women’s restroom. Alnuzaly followed him and “kept telling him not to do it,” but was unable to stop him “because as a service member, I am not allowed to touch him.” 

He then reported Wedington to the gym’s staff, he said in response to a question from Presiding Judge Tomohiko Shinomiya.

Uejo testified that Wedington behaved angrily that day and was “half asleep, drunk or doing something that he wasn’t supposed to do.”

A prosecutor identified only as Shimizu questioned the gym employee, Satsuki Thompson, 50 at the time of the incident, for about an hour July 1.

She testified that she crawled under the door of the bathroom stall after hearing the first woman call for help.

When she stood up, Wedington placed her in a rear chokehold until her vision began to grow dark, she said. She then grabbed him, causing him to loosen the chokehold, she said.

She exited the stall by crawling under the door, she said. Her glasses were broken and she was bleeding from her left eyelid, but she couldn’t remember how either of those things happened.

The woman changed her work shift after the incident and “feels fear” when talking to customers that look like Wedington, she said.

On June 9, the Japanese woman testified that Wedington stomped on the employee’s face when she entered the stall, causing the injuries and broken glasses. She also testified that the employee left the stall through the door.

Wedington is expected to testify on Aug. 19 and 28.