Japan jails US marine for seven years for sexual assault in Okinawa

Lance Corporal Jamel Clayton sentenced for attack on woman in her 20s

Judicial members for a sexual assault case against a US marine sit at the Naha District Court in Okinawa, Japan, on 24 July 2025 (AP)

A US marine has been sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman during his deployment in Japan’s Okinawa.

Lance Corporal Jamel Clayton, 22, attacked and choked the woman from behind and tried to have sex with her, the Naha district court in Okinawa said on Tuesday. The woman, in her 20s, had reported the assault to the local police as well as a friend shortly after it took place in May last year.

The US stations about 54,000 troops in Japan and more than half of them are deployed in the Okinawa archipelago, which also hosts 70 per cent of the American military bases in the Asian country.

Presiding judge Kazuhiko Obata said the soldier’s behaviour was “so dangerous that it could have threatened her life and was highly malicious”.

The court noted that blood spots found in the woman’s eyes after the assault matched a forensic scientist’s findings that such an injury could only be caused by compressing the neck continuously for one to two minutes. Her injuries took two weeks to heal.

A demonstrator holds a placard during a rally against American military presence in Naha (AFP/Getty)

The prosecutors had sought 10 years of jail for the accused, Stars and Stripes, an outlet covering US military news, reported.

The marine had denied the charges and his defence pointed to the woman’s “intoxication” and inconsistencies in her testimony during a trial earlier this month.

However, the presiding judge ruled the victim’s evidence was trustworthy as she had reported the incident to police immediately and sent a message to her friend detailing the incident which matched her testimony.

The court said Clayton had assaulted the woman for sexual purposes, The Japan Times reported. "The emotional pain she felt, including fear, was tremendous," the presiding judge said, according to the newspaper.

The judge asked Clayton to deeply repent his action in prison and spend a quiet life after getting out.

US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the centre of the city of Ginowan, Okinawa prefecture, Japan (AFP/Getty)

The US relinquished control of Okinawa and returned the prefecture to Japanese ownership in 1972 but retained a heavy military presence. It currently has an estimated 30,000 soldiers stationed in Okinawa.

Last year, Okinawa residents and the island's governor, Denny Tamaki, said they had long complained about accidents and crime related to the foreign military bases as they expressed anger over a lack of disclosure.

In June last year, Japan’s government protested to the American embassy over at least two sexual assault cases involving US servicemembers on Okinawa. One, it later turned out, was the case involving Clayton. In the other, an airman was accused of assaulting a 16-year-old girl in December.

In 1995, the rape of a 12-year-old by three US servicemembers sparked massive protests against the American military presence on Okinawa.