Japan to pay Y3 mil to Australian victim of 2002 rape involving U.S. soldier

Tuesday 20th May, 06:28 AM JST

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Loki520 at 04:04 PM JST - 20th May

Nessie,

He was never found CRIMINALLY guilty in a court of law. Civil courts have a much more relaxed standard of proof. And heresay IS allowed in civil court.
Nessie at 05:11 PM JST - 20th May

He **was **never found CRIMINALLY guilty in a court of law.

I never said he was, Loki. The claim was that he was never found guilty. In fact, he was found guilty in a court of law. Just not criminally guilty. So he's in that wonderful class of innocent OJ Simpsons who are looking for the real killer, or in this case, the real rapist.
USNinJapan2 at 05:22 PM JST - 20th May

niku

How about that US Government??

How about it? The US Navy/US Government is responsible for any crimes its personnel may commit while they are stationed in Japan. Had this Sailor been convicted of the crime of rape in a criminal court, he would have served time in a Japanese prison. However he was not convicted or even tried of any criminal action. Instead he was sued in a civil court. Whether you feel that it is or isn't fare, neither the Navy or the US Government is accountable when one of its employees is privately sued by another citizen (any nationality) in the same way your employer isn't in any way responsible if you are sued and are convicted of a civil/non-criminal offense. It's very generous of the GOJ to provide monetary compensation to this woman, but they would not have needed to had their own legal system not failed this woman and had actually prosecuted the alleged rapist. By her own admission this woman is not after the money but is after justice, so why you feel that the GOJ should be lauded for basically paying off this woman and for sweeping this entire case under the rug for the price of 3 million yen is beyond me.
Nessie at 09:06 PM JST - 20th May

Good one, USNin. The j-satsu and the courts blew it, and this is basically apology money.

presto345 at 11:44 PM JST - 20th May

A U.S. law stipulates, however, that such payments remain valid for only two years after the incident in question.

In other words, statute of limitations.

How convenient.

presto345 at 11:58 PM JST - 20th May

The j-satsu and the courts blew it, and this is basically apology money.

Explain it any way you like. The fact that this compensation was paid at all indicates the justice department is aware and has proof of wrongdoing.

the Tokyo District Court in a civil lawsuit in November 2004 acknowledged that the U.S. soldier raped the woman

This is all we need to know. Whether this was a civil suit or a criminal suit does not alter the fact the jerk was guilty. The money will never make up for what the woman has been through, but she may find some satisfaction in the action of the Defense Ministry.
rjd_jr at 12:11 AM JST - 21st May

Exactly presto, how convenient for the U.S. law. Funny how all of a sudden this becomes solely a J cop bungling issue to some here, yet no mention of the U.S. side's ineffective handling of this situation. Double standards as always my friends.
KitsuneYoukai at 01:20 AM JST - 21st May

Not really, it was their own cabinet that instituted that policy back in 1964.
presto345 at 02:03 AM JST - 21st May

Not really, it was their own cabinet that instituted that policy back in 1964.

That's not what rjd was talking about.
USNinJapan2 at 11:02 AM JST - 21st May

Understand this. Because there was never a criminal case, there was nothing (nothing legal anyway) preventing this Sailor from leaving Japan. As soon as the Japanese prosecutors declined to prosecute him, the Navy could not prevent him from choosing to leave active duty and from being transferred Stateside for processing out of the service. As the laws stand currently, a private law suit against a service member doesn't empower the Navy (or any branch) to restrict him/her in any way. The guy, being of less than desirable moral character, immediately got out of the Navy and disappeared.

If a rape was actually committed, and some of you claim that this is so, then it should have been prosecuted in a criminal court by the Japanese Prosecutor's Office and not left to a civil court to award monetary compensation. Had the individual been appropriately prosecuted to begin with, the Sailor would never have been able to leave Japan, he would most likely be sitting in a prison in Kanagawa right now, and justice would have been served. The Japanese government is compensating this woman supposedly because she has been unable to get assistance from the US Government when in fact her private law suit and the resulting settlement was/is against an American civilian. If justice (and not political activism) is her goal then she, with the help of the Japanese authorities, should be engaging American law enforcement in order to track down the ex-Sailor instead of protesting the US Navy and US Government.
rjdsr at 01:21 PM JST - 21st May

for the Japanese government to compensate this woman, the evidence must have been pretty good.

I look forward to seeing the proof!
VoXman at 11:36 PM JST - 21st May

More likely she kept up her haranging until the JGov paid up. I remember her posting here in JT her story. Her version, by her own accounts had a lot of holes in it. As I remember she was a 35-37 yrs old divorced mother of 2 children who decided to go to the Yokosuka and hang out in the honch bars with the 18-20 year old set. I believe this was the basis (right or wrong) for the police lack of serious attention to her charge of rape. I also believe she received alot of criticism for her poor choice of places to drink and meet obviously younger men. Of course in her defense, No, means no. I realize that. But we know how the Japanese Police are about cases like these. They don't see her as quite so innocent.
TheguyNextdoor at 12:36 PM JST - 22nd May

Voxman- Well said.
netrek at 09:04 AM JST - 26th May

The burden of proof is much less in a civil case compared to a criminal one. Being found guilty in a civil case does not imply he is criminally guilty! Especially if the one bringing the civil case is a sympathetic woman and the accused is not present to offer a defense in the proceedings.
dano2002 at 12:32 PM JST - 26th May

exactly voxmazn. her story has many many holes and it now seems she is in it for the money and publicity.

and that is why the Jpolice never prosecuted.

does anyone have the actual story?