1995 Okinawa rape incident

Rape of a Japanese girl by US servicemen 1995 Okinawa rape incident Kin, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan yes 1995 09 04 Child rape, child abduction, torture 12-year-old Okinawan girl Marcus Dion Gill Rodrico Harp Kendrick Maurice Ledet Duct tape Pleaded guilty Gill, Harp:Rape resulting in injuryLedet:Conspiracy yes Gill, Harp:7 years in prisonLedet:6 1 2 years in prison The 1995 Okinawa rape incident (ja 沖縄米兵少女暴行事件) occurred on September 4, 1995, when three American U.S. servicemen, 22-year-old U.S. Navy Seaman Marcus Dion Gill, 21-year-old U.S. Marine Rodrico Harp, and 20-year-old Kendrick Ledet, all serving at Camp Hansen in Okinawa Island, rented a van and kidnapped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl. Gill beat her, after the other two duct-taped her eyes and mouth shut, and bound her hands. Gill and Harp then raped her, while Ledet—who was described in news reports at the time as being small framed in school1995-11-06 Accused Marines' Kin Incredulous (Published 1995) https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/06/world/accused-marines-kin-incredulous.html https://web.archive.org/web/20230614191112/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/06/world/accused-marines-kin-incredulous.html 2023-06-14 2025-08-19 —claimed he only pretended to do so due to fear of Gill.Teresa Watanabe "Okinawa Rape Suspect's Lawyer Gives Dark Account : Japan: Attorney of accused Marine says co-defendant admitted assaulting 12-year-old girl 'just for fun'". Los Angeles Times October 28, 1995 The offenders were tried and convicted in Japanese court by Japanese law, in accordance with the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement. The incident led to further debate over the continued presence of U.S. forces in Japan among Okinawans.http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9510/okinawa_protest/index.html Thousands rally against U.S. bases in Okinawa 11 April 2008 CNN 21 October 1995 11 June 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210611055447/http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9510/okinawa_protest/index.html deadhttp://www.iht.com/articles/2002/08/01/kor_ed1_.php Road deaths ignite Korean anti-Americanism 11 April 2008 International Herald Tribune 1 August 2002 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20070915160744/http://www.iht.com/articles/2002/08/01/kor_ed1_.php 15 September 2007 2026-01-21 米兵3人が女子小学生を暴行、理由は「日本の女性は銃を持たないから」 届かない沖縄の怒り「人ごとなんだよ、東京で事件が起きてごらん」 47リポーターズ https://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/1758535 2026-01-26 沖縄タイムス+プラス ja As a result of this case, governments on both sides would seek ways to reduce Okinawa's base burden, and in the decades following, various measures would be enacted to prevent sexual crimes from happening, along with Japan increasing prison lengths for rape and making it so prosecutors can bring offenders to justice even if charges are not brought by the victim. Kidnapping and rape thumb|Location of Kin in Okinawa thumb|Blue Beach Training Area, where the rape took place Between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m., the victim left her home with ¥150 after telling her mother she needed a notebook for school, which had begun three days prior.Mitchell Jon Why are we in Okinawa? A History of Violence Yoshikawa Hideki 2026 Bloomsbury Academic 978-1-5381-8839-2 Selden Mark Asian Voices London 153 10.5040/9798881845285 Earlier, at about 4:00 p.m., while the three perpetrators and a fourth unnamed US Marine were driving around after clubbing off base, Gill allegedly asked them if they had ever "thought of doing something crazy", which soon after prompted a conversation among them about how they would theoretically commit a rape, with one of them asking who had the hardest punch to make the target unconscious.Mitchell Jon Why are we in Okinawa? A History of Violence Yoshikawa Hideki 2026 Bloomsbury Academic 978-1-5381-8839-2 Selden Mark Asian Voices London 152 10.5040/9798881845285 Gill eventually suggested doing it for real,Allen/Sumida David/Chiyomi Maine defendants claim that Gill bullied them to commit abduction Stars and Stripes Pacific prompting them to head to a store at Kadena Airbase where Harp and Ledet purchased condoms and electrical tape. The three spent the next four hours searching for a target, with the specific intent to abduct a school-aged victim,Allen David Gill Contends Ledet Also Had Sex Stars and Stripes Pacific and at one point attempting to abduct a woman in an alleyway before she ran into a building after being accosted by Harp.Inoue Masamichi Okinawa and the U.S. Military Identity Making in the Age of Globalization 17 April 2007 Columbia University Press 9780231511148 32 https://books.google.com/books?id=TnsVoSw8hRgC&dq=gill&pg=PA32 28 June 2024 At roughly 8:00 p.m., the three saw the victim enter a general store where she had walked a short distance from her home to buy a notebook. After she exited, Harp approached her and asked for directions, and as this happened, Ledet punched her and grabbed her by the neck to pull her into the car while Harp assisted. She attempted to shout for help but was punched again twice. While in the car, Harp taped her mouth, hands, and ankles at Gill's direction before Ledet put tape over her eyes. They drove to Blue Beach Training area,Hein/Selden Laura/Mark Islands of Discontent Okinawan Responses to Japanese and American Power 9 April 2003 Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 9781461637929 137 https://books.google.com/books?id=ec4dAAAAQBAJ&dq=okinawa%20rape%20blue%20beach%20training%20area&pg=PA137 where, according to prosecutors, Gill punched her in the face and abdomen, and shoved her back into the car where he continued to beat her until she was barely conscious before he raped her.Allen David Sailor admits raping Okinawan Stars and Stripes Pacific Harp claimed in testimony to the court that he was told by Ledet not to rape her, and to just get in the car after Gill to "Keep Gill from jumping on her."1995-12-12 GI APOLOGIZES FOR TAKING PART IN ATTACK ON OKINAWA GIRL https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/12/12/gi-apologizes-for-taking-part-in-attack-on-okinawa-girl/3fa6845e-74c2-4adc-b899-c79b06bfeeb7/ 2025-10-12 The Washington Post en-US 0190-8286 When interviewed by John Junkerman in 2012, he claimed that he walked away to urinate while Gill was in the car. Afterward, according to Gill's testimony in court, he and Ledet made jokes about the crime before Ledet went back into the van and stripped down to his underwear, but was unable or unwilling to rape the victim. Harp then entered the van and raped her. After they drove off, the victim walked until she found a house where she called her mother and explained what happened. Her mother filed a complaint with the police, who were able to quickly identify the men based on the victim's description of them, including the exact number on the license plate of the rental van. The victim told police that she was determined to report the crime as soon as possible, saying she "did not want any other girls to experience the same".Akibayashi Kozue Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence : An Island Feminism Reclaiming Dignity https://u-ryukyu.repo.nii.ac.jp/record/2012349/files/%5B037-054%5D.pdf Reaction When Japanese police arrived to take custody of the three, the U.S. military police denied the request, invoking Article 17, Paragraph 5C of the 1960 Status of Forces Agreement, which covers the rights and obligations of U.S. forces in Japan. The U.S. is obliged to hand over criminal suspects only after they have been indicted. In this case, the U.S. compromised by permitting the police to take the suspects each day for questioning, but insisted that they stay overnight in the brig at Camp Hansen.Desmond Edward W. RAPE OF AN INNOCENT, DISHONOR IN THE RANKS https://time.com/archive/6727958/rape-of-an-innocent-dishonor-in-the-ranks/ October 2, 1995 Time Photographs of the suspects' faces were for a time virtually absent from Japan's media. News executives were concerned that public anger over the rape would be further inflamed and take on racist overtones if the race of the suspects were widely publicized. A U.S. military public-affairs officer, speaking from the US military's Japan headquarters at Yokota, said he could not disclose the suspects' races out of respect for their privacy.Barr Cameron W. October 26, 1995 Japan's Media Avoid Showing Race of US Rape Suspects Christian Science Monitor https://www.csmonitor.com/1995/1026/26012.html 2023-03-16 0882-7729 After the incident became known, public outrage began, especially over the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement, which gives the U.S. service members a certain measure of extraterritoriality (exemption from jurisdiction of local law) only as it relates to the place the suspects were detained. While the crime was committed away from a U.S. military base, the U.S. initially took the men into custody, on September 6.1995-09-29 Americans Charged In Rape in Okinawa The New York Times The Associated Press https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/29/world/americans-charged-in-rape-in-okinawa.html 2023-03-16 0362-4331 mdy Although false rumors spread that the suspects were free to roam the base and had been seen eating hamburgers,Watanabe Teresa 1995-10-26 U.S., Japan OK Pact on Military Crime Suspects https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-26-mn-61240-story.html Los Angeles Times 2023-03-16 mdy the suspects were held in a military brig until the Japanese officials charged them with the crime. The families of the defendants initially claimed that Japanese officials had racially discriminated against the men because they were all African American and coerced confessions from them, but later retracted the claims.December 5, 1995 Wife Pleads Marine's Case in Okinawa Rape Trial : Justice: Spouse says her husband, accused in brutal attack on schoolgirl, is a gentle and intelligent man https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-05-mn-10474-story.html 13 October 2013 Los Angeles Times Despite an immediate request by Japanese law enforcement for custody and eventual trial, the men were only transferred on September 29, after the Japanese had formally indicted them. This delay was in conformity with the Status of Forces agreement (SOFA), which states, "The custody of an accused member of the United States armed forces or the civilian component over whom Japan is to exercise jurisdiction shall, if he is in the hands of the United States, remain with the United States until he is charged."U.S.-Japan SOFA Agreement, Article xvii (5) (c): Although the military drove the suspects to police headquarters in Naha for daily interrogations,Norman Adam B. 1996-01-03 The Rape Controversy: Is a Revision of the Status of Forces Agreement with Japan Necessary? http://advancesinsocialwork.iupui.edu/index.php/iiclr/article/view/17677 Indiana International & Comparative Law Review 6 3 717–740 10.18060/17677 2169-3226 mdy subscription free August 2024 InternetArchiveBot yes the SOFA provision and the delay in transferring the suspects increased the outrage due to the attack, causing a surge of Anti-American sentiment among Okinawans and Japanese in general. The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution to protest against the actions of the U.S. military.米軍人による女子小学生暴行傷害事件に関する沖縄県議会抗議決議 - データベース「世界と日本」 https://worldjpn.grips.ac.jp/documents/texts/JPUS/19950919.O1J.html 2021-12-28 worldjpn.grips.ac.jp 2017-10-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20171002234925/http://worldjpn.grips.ac.jp/documents/texts/JPUS/19950919.O1J.html dead On October 21 the anti-base movement reached its apex, a rally was held in Ginowan City to protest the incident and the U.S. military bases.Mikanagi Yumiko Okinawa: women, bases and US–Japan relations https://academic.oup.com/irap/article-abstract/4/1/97/730845 International Relations of the Asia-Pacific 2004 4 97–111 10.1093/irap/4.1.97 4 November 2024 subscription About 85,000 residents participated in the rally,2025-07-23 ［再考 1995］第2部（下） 日本と溝 結べぬ信頼関係 米兵少女暴行事件 作家の目取真俊さん 基地問題へ大人の責任 https://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/1633310 2025-08-16 沖縄タイムス+プラス ja including the Governor of Okinawa Masahide Ota. This was the largest protest in Okinawa since the treaty was signed in 1960.高田佳典 2020-10-21 沖縄「怒りで島が揺れた」 米兵の少女暴行に抗議、あの日から25年 西日本新聞 https://www.nishinippon.co.jp/item/n/656327/ 2021-11-19普天間返還合意のきっかけ 1995年沖縄県民大会あす20年 沖縄タイムス+プラス ニュース https://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/19965 2021-12-28 沖縄タイムス+プラス 20 October 2015 ja The then governor of Okinawa Masahide Ota even refused to sign the documents required by the U.S. military base.反基地運動のうねり：時事ドットコム https://www.jiji.com/jc/v2?id=20100424us_marine_corps_in_okinawa_04 2021-12-28 時事ドットコム ja As a consequence of the protests regarding jurisdiction, the U.S. made concessions and agreed to consider transferring suspects to the Japanese before an indictment if the severity of the alleged crime warranted it.外務省: 日米地位協定第17条5（c）及び、刑事裁判手続に係る日米合同委員会合意 https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/usa/sfa/rem_keiji_01.html 2021-12-28 www.mofa.go.jp This agreement was decided at an emergency meeting between U.S. president Bill Clinton and Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. The people of Okinawa also placed a full-page advertisement in The New York Times decrying the rape and other aspects of the U.S. bases in Okinawa.July 2023 Trial thumb|Naha District Court In a trash can on Camp Kinser, U.S. military investigators had retrieved the three assailant's discarded pairs of underwear, each stained in the victim's blood, as well as a notebook, and a roll of electrical tape—all of which were in the same plastic bag the victim obtained from the general store.Allen David Marine defendants claim that GIll bullied them to commit abduction Stars and Stripes Pacific Having been encouraged by his lawyer, who told him that Japanese courts are generally more lenient to those who confess their crimes and express remorse,Fukurai Hiroshi People's Panels vs. Imperial Hegemony: Japan's Twin Lay Justice Systems and the Future of American Military Bases in Japan https://manoa.hawaii.edu/aplpj/wp-content/uploads/sites/120/2011/11/APLPJ_12.1_fukurai.pdf June 26, 2024 Gill pleaded guilty to the rape, though he continuously claimed in letters and phone calls to his parents that he and the other two were being manipulated by police into making statements in accordance with a false story, claiming that he would be killed if he did not acquiesce, and that police were presenting them with evidence such as photographs of his own blood stained underwear, which he said did not make sense, given that he would never throw away a pair of underwear with his name sewed on it. Despite this, Gill bragged in court while addressing the victim and her family that he had taken responsibility for the rape by admitting he had done it.Allen David Apologetic Gill tells judges co defendants are lying https://imgur.com/a/p000xh2 Previously, the victim asked the judges to imprison the three for life in a letter read by prosecutors, with the victim's parents begging the court in separate letters asking the judges to give them the death penalty. Gill further claimed that he was unaware of the victim's young age due to a lack of light. In one letter, Gill asked his parents to look after his family for him, and further went on to claim that he believed his circumstances were a divine punishment for faltering in his faith as a Jehovah's Witness.Shlachter Barry Mother of Texan in Okinawa rape case says it's a frame-up Fort Worth Star-Telegram Fort Worth Star-Telegram The other two men insisted throughout the trial that they had not committed rape, but pleaded guilty to conspiracy. The trial concluded on March 7, 1996.NHK 沖縄 米兵暴行事件に怒り爆発 https://www2.nhk.or.jp/archives/tv60bin/detail/index.cgi?das_id=D0009030269_00000 2021-12-28 テレビ60年 特選コレクション NHKアーカイブス ja Gill had explained to the judges that he had been under a lot of work-related stress in the weeks preceding the crime which was exacerbated by his orders for a transfer back to the U.S. being canceled after he had failed his Physical Readiness Test for excess weight.Allen David Apologetic Gill tells judges co-defendants are lying Stars and Stripes Pacific His attorney claimed that this also caused him to have homicidal ideation.Lee May Sailor pleads guilty in Okinawa rape 2 others admit conspiracy; families deny guilt http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/japan_rape/pm/index.html CNN https://web.archive.org/web/20080119111035/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/japan_rape/pm/index.html 2 November 2024 2008-01-19 On the trial session on December 11 of the same year, Harp's statement detailing his alleged role in the kidnapping and rape was read aloud in court. When prompted by his attorney, Harp said that he had tried to correct investigators, that he had never raped the victim, and that he had signed the statement confessing to his crimes under duress from American police. He also said no when his lawyer asked if he had read the statement clearly before signing.McCarthy jullie G.I. ACCUSED OF RAPE SAYS CONFESSION WAS COERCED NPR Morning Edition He further went on to apologize for claiming he was not the one who bound the victim's hands during an earlier session. The trial itself suffered from complications as a result of the language barrier with interpreters sometimes failing to translate the defendant's fast speech in its entirety.Associated Press Serviceman weeps over wife's plea for forgiveness Macon Telegraph Gill would claim that his willingness to confess to the rape itself, at times speaking so graphically that the court translator had to force back tears,aLLEN David Gill claims Marine buddies helped plan attack Stars and Stripes Pacific demonstrated that his contrition and account of events was the most trustworthy, boasting throughout the trial for having testified about the rape in detail. When interviewed thirty years later Hatsumi Kinjo, the court interpreter, said that she was appalled by the sheer lack of respect towards the victim, further stating that he tried to defend himself by saying he "didn't think she was that young."2025-10-19 被害者を侮辱する米兵に絶句 1995年の暴行事件で法廷通訳 変わらぬ沖縄の現状「受け入れ難い」 共同通信 プレミアム https://www.okinawatimes.co.jp/articles/-/1694665 2025-10-19 沖縄タイムス+プラス ja米兵3人が女子小学生を暴行、理由は「日本の女性は銃を持たないから」 届かない沖縄の怒り「人ごとなんだよ、東京で事件が起きてごらん」（47NEWS） https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/6b92426a241c9d07bb665e935571ebbf01b761ca 2026-01-29 Yahoo!ニュース ja Gill bragged to the panel of judges at one point, saying "How many of you could do what I have done today?" regarding his testimony.McCarthy Julie JAPANESE PROSECUTORS SEEK HARD LABOR FOR SERVICEMEN https://imgur.com/a/lNG222r NPR Morning Edition Veering into statements "that sounded more like a lecture to the court" according to one observer and at several points making clear his belief that his admission of the rape had earned him salvation in the afterlife. During the final hearing in January 1996, judges had detailed the strife that the victim and her family had been put through by the attack, including a written statement from them imploring the court to give them life sentences, as well as explaining that the victim was now depressed.These U.S. military bases in Okinawa.. https://bcrw.barnard.edu/archive/militarism/these_us_miliatary_bases_in_okinawa.pdf 6 January 2025 Judges were described as becoming "visibly impatient during the rambling statements by Gill and Ledet—who were best friends before the rape—in which they sought to incriminate one another"FATHER OF OKINAWA RAPE VICTIM PLEADS FOR HARSHEST SENTENCES https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1996/vp960130/01300307.htm#:~:text=Marine%20Pfc.,sought%20to%20incriminate%20one%20another. 2025-10-13 scholar.lib.vt.edu Prosecutors had recommended a ten year sentence for each man. The judge sentenced Ledet to six and a half years, after determining that he was unable or unwilling to rape once in the car, and sentenced Gill and Harp to seven years' imprisonment and hard labor which, at the time of the trial, was considered an average punishment by Japanese standards.McCarthy Julie THREE U.S. SERVICEMEN SENTENCED IN OKINAWA FOR RAPE NPR Morning Edition In the decades following, average Japanese sentence lengths for all sex crimes would increase substantially.2013-03-01 US sailors jailed for Okinawa rape https://sg.news.yahoo.com/us-sailors-jailed-okinawa-rape-report-073853533.html 2025-06-02 Yahoo News Their families also paid monetary reparation to the family of the victim despite the father rejecting it upon learning it would be used to mitigate sentence length. Harp and Ledet expressed their intention to appeal their sentence, but were convinced not to by their attorneys. Gill made no effort towards making an appeal, despite his lawyer claiming during the trial that Gill had planned to if the sentence exceeded five years. Aftermath The three men served prison terms in Japanese prisons and were released during 2003 and then given Other Than Honorable discharge from the military. After release, Rodrico Harp decried prison conditions in Japan and said that the electronics assembly prison labor he was forced to do amounted to slave labor.http://www.stripes.com/news/ex-marine-decries-nature-of-japan-prison-work-1.21905 Ex-Marine decries nature of Japan prison work Allen David Stars and Stripes, Pacific Edition 18 July 2004 4 April 2007 Ledet, whom the panel of Japanese judges concluded did not commit rape in 1995, died in 2006 in an apparent murder–suicide in the United States. He was found in the third-floor apartment of Lauren Cooper, a junior Kennesaw State University student and acquaintance whom he had apparently raped and murdered by strangulation. He then ended his own life by using a knife to slice open his veins at the elbows.Allen, D. "Former Marine who sparked Okinawa furor is dead in suspected murder-suicide." Stars and Stripes, Pacific Edition, 25 August 2006. In 2008, a movie named The First Breath of Tengan Rei based on the Okinawa incident was released.Stars and Stripes https://www.stripes.com/news/film-inspired-by-rape-of-okinawa-girl-by-u-s-troops-1.86170 14 December 2008 Film inspired by rape of Okinawa girl by U.S. troops David Allen In December 2011, then-Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa was the subject of a censure motion from the opposition Liberal Democratic Party for failing to know the details of the rape. This followed his subordinate Satoshi Tanaka speaking with reporters in a tavern and using euphemisms for rape to discuss relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Satoshi Tanaka was terminated as director of the Okinawa Defense Bureau,The Japan Times Upper House censures ministers - Ichikawa, Yamaoka censured in Diet December 10, 2011 Retrieved on August 16, 2012 and in the cabinet reshuffle of January 13, 2012, Ichikawa was replaced by Naoki Tanaka.The Japan Times New Noda Cabinet on tax push January 14, 2012 Retrieved on August 16, 2012 John Junkerman, director of Hellfire: A Journey from Hiroshima, expressed interest in interviewing both of the surviving perpetrators for his film about Okinawa's contentious history with its U.S. military presence. In attempting to get into contact with Gill and his wife Feliciå L. Gill in Humble, Texas, where Gill works as a trucker despite being a victim of an unprovoked assault that left him paralyzed, however, Junkerman was only able to speak with Gill's mother, who told him that her son refused and had no interest in "Talking about where he was or what he was doing". Junkerman also pursued a response from Harp, who eventually expressed interest after several months. Junkerman interviewed him in Harp's home in Griffin, Georgia, in 2012,Most of John Junkerman's interview with Rodrico Harp for the film "Okinawa: The Afterburn https://imgur.com/a/xQwlruL Imgur 3 August 2025 where Harp spoke openly for two and a half hours about the rape incident and the surrounding events, and about how much he wished he could take it all back.Kawata Makiko 戦後70年、沖縄は問いかける『沖縄 うりずんの雨』ジャン・ユンカーマン監督インタビュー 70 years after the war, Okinawa asks questions Interview with director John Junkerman of "Okinawa: Rain on the Urinary Sea" http://cineref.com/report/2015/07/post-203.html ja Cineref.com 29 October 2024 On September 9, 2025, the Okinawa Times reported that Ledet's criminal history prior to joining the Marine Corps was more abundant than had been realized by the investigators and legal teams at the time with the robbery and aggravated assault of his ex-girlfriend.Mitchell John Two U.S. soldiers convicted of assault: U.S. military fails to uphold principle of not allowing women to join the military even before 1995 Okinawa incident https://imgur.com/a/RHwVjv1 See also Crime Japan United States 1945 Katsuyama killing incident 1955 Yumiko-chan incident, took place exactly 40 years prior 2002 Okinawa Michael Brown incident 2006 Yokosuka homicide 2008 Yokosuka homicide Rape during the occupation of Japan Sexual assault in the U.S. military References collapsed Category:1995 crimes in Japan Category:Child sexual abuse in Japan Category:Racially motivated violence in Japan Category:United States Marine Corps in the 20th century Category:United States Armed Forces in Okinawa Prefecture Category:Incidents of violence against girls Category:Violence against women in Japan Category:Anti-American sentiment in Japan Category:Anti-Japanese sentiment Category:September 1995 in Japan Category:September 1995 crimes Category:Gang rape in Japan Category:Rape in the 1990s Category:Sexual assault in the United States military Category:United States military scandals in Japan