A sexual assault case brought against two USS Bonhomme Richard sailors has been dropped, a Nagasaki prosecutor’s office spokesman said Friday.

Prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence to support claims by a Japanese woman that she was sexually assaulted May 14 at an off-base residence in Sasebo.

Japanese police forwarded their recommendations to the Nagasaki District Public Prosecutor’s Office in August.

Although the sailors remained in Navy custody, service officials said earlier that they had been interviewed 18 times by Japanese investigators between May and August.

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