U.S. military children arrested in Japan

[Coventina]

Source: CNN

Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- Four American teenagers, all children of U.S. military personnel, have been arrested on charges of attempted murder after a woman was knocked off her motorbike with rope strung across two poles, Japanese police said.

An 18-year-old man, a 17-year-old girl and two 15-year-old boys were taken into custody on Saturday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said.

They are accused of causing a severe head injury to a 23-year-old restaurant employee by stringing a rope between poles across a road.

U.S. Forces Japan was informed of the August incident in late October, a public information officer said. There was no clear explanation for the delay in the handover of the suspects to police, other than it involved rules between Washington and Tokyo covering U.S. forces and their dependents in Japan.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/07/japan.us.teens/

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If they really did this, I hope they get "the book" thrown at them.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Stupid kids, probably trying to do some sort of Jackass-type stunt.

[WriteDown]

2. What the heck?

Watching too much "Predator?"

[theoldman]

3. They are lucky she did not die.

People can be decapitated very easy.

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. +1, this is a horrible 'trick' to play on someone

[timo]

18. unless

unless your in the earth liberation front, those fucktards recomend doing this to deter motorcycle and atv riders here in America!!

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. horrible

[timo]

22. ????

horrible that ELF and its ilk support this or that I said it?

[kestrel91316]

4. Prediction: this will end with jail time for the 18-yr-old, and the others will

be deported. And the parents will cry.

They will count themselves lucky to get off so lightly for a serious crime.

[nyc 4 Biden]

5. i bet they will blame everyone but their children. n/t

sad.

[kestrel91316]

6. Yep. And I would bet serious money those brats laughed hysterically when the

woman hit the pavement.

[Xithras]

21. Japan is typically very lenient toward juvenile crime anyway.

There have been many cases where kids convicted of crimes as serious as murder have walked away with sentences no more severe than mandatory psych counseling. The Japanese juvenile justice system is heavily focused toward rehabilitation, and only falls back on punishment when rehabilitation has failed, or if the crime is so heinous that it justifies elevation to a traditional criminal (adult) court. While the Japanese did stiffen their laws up about a decade ago, in practice only death penalty or life imprisonment type cases qualify.

[psychopomp]

24. 18 is underage according to Japanese law

That kid will not be tried as an adult, he is still a minor in the eyes of the law. It will be interesting to see what kind of penalty will be meted out.

Edit: 20 is the age of adulthood, should anyone be interested

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

7. the soldiers wives also cause a lot of problems

usually involving public mayhem following unthinkable amounts of alcohol, one drunk chick actually fought off two japanese police women AND an off duty MP - at once.

But all she got was a plane ticket home,

[hayu_lol]

8. Would be interesting to know if these kids...

were officer or enlisted dependents. Military sponsors could be held responsible and could be courts-martialed or discharged, no matter their career status.

[crazy_eight8]

12. Well...

They are not enlisted. Two of the suspects are my cousins and they pulled a stupid prank over here, in the U.S.,which got them sent out there to live with a family member on the base. They did something way stupid and deserve the punishment that is coming. I can tell you that the family member they are living with will most likely NOT lose his job but we will see. My aunt is heading out there soon to be there for the court hearings.

[psychopomp]

25. J-cops scuffle with drunks all the time

It's really par for course. The cops don't throw drunks to the ground and electrocute or shoot them like they do in the States should one touch a cop.

[Betty Karlson]

9. In Japan, boredom of deployed US servicemen

is the greatest cause of mischief. In the 1990-ies, there were wultiple reports about rapes. Caused a small rift in US-Japanese relations.

[Jkid]

10. Probally this is a great time to show you this.

If they do get sentenced to a japanese prison, they'll be in for a shock.

http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/08/world/prisons-in-japan-are-safe-but-harsh.html

http://www.jameswebb.com/articles/parade-japaneseprisons.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SLyTR2KJ2g (A short documentary on a Japanese prison)

[pnorman]

11. Thanks for those links.

n/t

[crazy_eight8]

13. As I have stated before...

Two of the suspects are my cousins and according to updates, they will most likely be deported here to serve their time, if given any prison time at all. I just love waking up in the morning to hear that my family members have gotten arrested and it's on every news site... what a mess.

[AlphaCentauri]

17. would it be better if they serve in the place where they commit the crime?

[sharp_stick]

28. Thanks for the information

not a fun thing to have happen to family members.

[SinNombre]

29. Crazy_Eight8

I too am a relative of one of the kids involved and the parents are not forthcoming with current information. They are devastated at the whole situation. It would be awesome if they could serve any time (if they get jail time) here! What I've heard about the Japanese prisons is NOT good! These kids are young and can be taught the error of their ways. Can you please e-mail me so I can get an update? I tried to PM you, but this site says I need more posts to send PM's. Never encountered that at a forum before.

[e-mail]

[Posteritatis]

19. And they will; Japan has as close to a 100% conviction rate as makes no difference. (nt)

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. 18 and 17 year old not really 'children'.

[Art_from_Ark]

26. In Japan, they're still considered "children"

Even 19-year-olds who are arrested for major crimes are only referred to in newspaper and TV reports as "shonen" or "shojo" (the male and female words for "adolescent")-- no names if they're younger than 20.

[AlphaCentauri]

16. I like Japan but if those kids get convicted....

:sarcasm:

[superconnected]

23. Sounds like the kids are getting the wakeup call they need, and possibly prision time

they deserve. That woman was seriously hurt and could have been killed.

[hayu_lol]

27. Thanks for the info Crazy8...

Military sponsors usually come into serious trouble when their dependents break regulations/laws.