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US military’s leniency over sex crimes in Japan revealed
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Most service members at US military bases in Japan found guilty of sex crimes in recent years did not go to prison, according to internal Department of Defense documents.
Instead, in a review of hundreds of cases filed in America’s largest overseas military installation, offenders were fined, demoted, restricted to their bases or removed from the military.
In about 30 cases, a letter of reprimand was the only punishment.
More than 1,000 records, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, describe hundreds of cases in graphic detail, painting a disturbing picture of how senior American officers prosecute and punish troops accused of sex crimes. The handling of allegations verged on the chaotic, with seemingly strong cases often reduced to lesser charges. In two rape cases, commanders overruled recommendations to court-martial and dropped the charges instead.
Even when military authorities agreed a crime had been committed, the suspect was unlikely to serve time. Of 244 service members whose punishments were detailed in the records, only a third were incarcerated.
The analysis of the reported sex crimes, filed between 2005 and early 2013, shows a pattern of random and inconsistent judgments.
The Marines were far more likely than other branches to send offenders to prison, with 53 prison sentences out of 270 cases. By contrast, of the Navy’s 203 cases, more than 70 were court-martialed or punished in some way.
Only 15 were sentenced to time behind bars.
The Air Force was the most lenient. Of 124 sex crimes, the only punishment for 21 offenders was a letter of reprimand.
Victims increasingly declined to cooperate with investigators or recanted, a sign they may have been losing confidence in the system. In 2006, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which handles the Navy and Marine Corps, reported 13 such cases; in 2012, it was 28.
In two cases, both adjudicated by the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, the accusers said they were sexually abused after nights of heavy drinking, and both had evidence to support their cases. One suspect was sentenced to six years in prison, but the other was confined to his base for just 30 days.
Spiraling number
Taken together, the cases illustrate how far military leaders have to go to reverse a spiraling number of sexual assault reports. The records may also give weight to members of Congress pushing to strip senior officers of their authority to decide whether serious crimes go to trial.
“How many more rapes do we have to endure to wait and see what reforms are needed?” asked Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Senate Armed Services personnel subcommittee. She leads a group of lawmakers from both political parties who argue the need for further reforms to the military’s legal system.
The authority to decide how to prosecute serious criminal allegations would be taken away from senior officers under a bill crafted by Gillibrand that is expected to come before the Senate this week.
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