US airman in Japan gets suspended term for molesting girl

[Judi Lynn]

17th NOV 13:43 hrs IST
US airman in Japan gets suspended term for molesting girl
- -
Tokyo: A US Air Force sergeant stationed in the southern Japan island of Okinawa received a suspended prison term on Thursday for molesting a 10-year-old Japanese girl, officials said. The sentence could prompt protests as being too lenient in Okinawa, home to about half the US military presence in Japan and where many have long resented bearing what they see, as an unfair burden of maintaining the US-Japan security treaty.

Staff Sergeant Armando Valdez, 28, stationed at Kadena air base in Okinawa, was sentenced to 18 months, suspended for four years by the District Court in Naha, the island's capital. Court documents said Valdez took photos of the upper part of the girl's body, which had been stripped naked, touched her and took photos with a mobile phone.

Prosecutors sought 18 months in jail for Valdez, who at first had denied molesting the girl. He later admitted it. Presiding judge Nobuyuki Yokota was quoted as saying, "This sex crime by a US serviceman caused great fear and anxiety to local communities."

Okinawa is Japan's poorest prefecture and about half of the US military in Japan is based there. Fury over the rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by three US servicemen in Okinawa in 1995 rocked the US-Japan bilateral relationship.
(snip/...)

http://www.manoramaonline.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=manorama/MmArticle/CommonFullStory&c=MmArticle&channel=News&cid=1132138986926&colid=1002258272837&count=10&p=1002366458817&WebLogicSession=Q3xFOfZw82aAsYfiiokO5WpFmkFp5BV4ET22SMSU4dWOsOBiJeff|14

[Stockholm]

1. Hey they are japs so who cares

:sarcasm:

[nofurylike]

2. puking. eom

[Dogmudgeon]

3. That's just wrong

I'm not a big promoter of draconian punishment (or Pedo Frenzies), but 18 months' incarceration doesn't even allow time for treatment, let alone restitution/retribution.

This has become a troubling pattern in the overseas military. The Brass is quite concerned with gays and with officer/enlisted relationships, but there is a lack of seriousness in dealing with rape and similar crimes.

--p!

[MADem]

4. And in Naples, a sailor's pretrial has been closed to the public

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?article=33076

NAPLES, Italy — A pretrial criminal hearing Wednesday for a sailor charged with engaging in indecent acts with a minor remained closed to the public and the media for a second straight day.

...Correa, 41, is charged with fraternization, sexual harassment and indecent acts with a minor. He is a communications watch floor supervisor with the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in Naples. The station is a tenant command of Naval Support Activity Naples.

...“With a broad brush, they just painted away all meaningful rights of access. … Civilian court systems deal with cases this sensitive every day, without shutting the public out completely from procedures. The military justice system has a duty to work as hard as civilian judges to find a way to allow meaningful access to proceedings,” said Tobin, legal counsel to the Military Reporters & Editors association and other news media organizations.

[Southpaw Bookworm]

5. Support the troops.

:puke: