ANKARA

The US military apologized to Japan on Thursday for a sexual assault case involving a serviceman in 2024, after a local court sentenced a US Marine to seven years in prison, according to Kyodo News Agency.

Col. Neil Owens, chief of staff for the 3rd Marine Division, apologized to the Okinawa prefectural government during a visit to the governor's office.

This is the first time that a US military official has issued a formal apology to the local government regarding the incidents.

"It was a vicious incident that ignores the human rights of women," said Masahito Tamari, director general of the Okinawa governor's office.

The US military suggested that the local government continue a joint patrol with Japanese police in order to prevent sexual crimes from occurring again.

Last month, a local district court in Okinawa Prefecture sentenced Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 22, to seven years in prison. He has since appealed the ruling.

He was accused of injuring a woman in her 20s by choking her during an attempted rape.

In December of last year, a member of the US Air Force stationed in Japan was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16 in 2023.

Okinawa hosts 31 US-exclusive military facilities, accounting for 70.3% of such sites in Japan in terms of land area. The island is home to roughly half of the 50,000 US troops deployed in the country under a security pact.

There have been numerous sexual assault cases involving US servicemembers in Japan, prompting public outrage and renewed calls for stricter oversight.

Hundreds of residents held demonstrations in Okinawa last year to demand an apology from the US military after a servicemember was implicated in a sexual assault case.

There were 118 criminal cases involving US military personnel in Japan in 2023, according to official figures. Seventy-two of those cases, accounting for 61%, reportedly occurred in Okinawa.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid