Rape allegations against Marine staff sergeant spark Okinawa protests

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Demonstrators stand outside the Headquarters Gate of Camp Foster on Tuesday night protesting the alleged rape. The banner proclaims opposition to a new Marine Corps air facility planned for Camp Schwab to replace MCAS Futenma. The white sign at right states, "Okinawa never welcomes U.S. forces." The rally, attended by about 300 people who snake-danced in front of the gate for about an hour, was sponsored by the Okinawa Peace Activities Center, a group opposed to U.S. military bases on the island.


Rape allegations against Marine staff sergeant spark Okinawa protests
By Chiyomi Sumida and David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, February 14, 2008

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Okinawa police forwarded a charge of rape against a Marine staff sergeant to the Naha District Public Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, while protests against the alleged crime began to grow.

Two Okinawa mayors filed formal complaints with U.S. and Japanese government officials and about 300 people protested in front of the Headquarters Gate of Camp Foster on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott, 38, assigned to Camp Courtney, remained in custody in the prefectural police department’s Okinawa City station. He was arrested early Monday morning on suspicion of raping a 14-year-old Okinawan girl Sunday night in his van parked on a roadside in Chatan, near Camp Foster.

On Tuesday afternoon he was transported to the prosecutor’s office in Naha for questioning — without a defense attorney present — that can continue for another 20 days before an indictment is sought. A police spokesman said Hadnott continues to deny raping the girl, saying only that he tried to kiss her and pressed himself against her inside the van.

He reportedly told investigators that he did not know the girl was underage, the spokesman said.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52445