Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton was found guilty of attacking a woman last year on the island of Okinawa, where a string of such cases involving U.S. service members has angered the public.

A rally in 2016 in Okinawa, Japan. Frustrations continue to run high in Okinawa today due to crime related to American troops.Richard Atrero de Guzman / Anadolu via Getty Images file

TOKYO — A Japanese court said Wednesday it had found a U.S. Marine guilty of s3xually assaulting a woman on Okinawa, sentencing him to prison terms, in a case that has triggered anger and safety concerns on Japan’s southern island, which has a heavy American troop presence.

The Naha District Court said Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 22, of Ohio, was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison in the case.

Clayton was found guilty of attacking the woman in her 20s in the village of Yomitan on the main Okinawa island in May 2024, chocking her from behind, s3xually assaulting her and causing her injuries.

In sentencing, Judge Kazuhiko Obata said the victim’s testimony, provided remotely and anonymously, was highly credible even though the defendant denied the charges brought by the prosecutors, who demanded 10 years in prison, according to Kyodo News.

It was one of a string of s3xual assault cases last year in which the arrests of the suspects were initially withheld by local authorities on grounds of protecting the victims’ privacy, triggering anger and accusations of cover-ups.

Judicial members, including Judge Kazuhiko Obata, center back, for the s3xual assault case of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, at the Naha District Court in Okinawa.
© Kyodo News/AP

Okinawa, where one of the fiercest battles of World War II was fought 80 years ago and which was under U.S. occupation until 1972, remains home to the majority of about 50,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security pact. The island, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land, hosts 70% of U.S. military facilities.

Frustration runs high on Okinawa because of its continued burden with the heavy U.S. presence that includes noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crime related to American troops.

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, who attended Monday’s 80th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa, raised concerns about recent s3xual assault cases involving U.S. service members when he met with Lt. Gen. Roger Turner, the commander of III Marine Expeditionary Force, requesting discipline and preventive measures.

There have been growing calls for a revision to the Status of Forces Agreement that gives the United States the right to investigate most accidents and crimes that occur on Japanese soil.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Cabinet on Tuesday adopted a statement showing that Japanese prosecutors had dropped criminal cases against more than 300 U.S. service members in the decade from 2014 to 2024, including a s3xual assault case in Okinawa in 2020.