Japanese Police Seek Molestation Charges Against 3 Marines
TOKYO — Japanese police have asked prosecutors to open an investigation into three U.S. Marines suspected of molesting two junior high school girls in southern Japan last year, police said Friday.
The Marines, whose names and hometowns were withheld by police, are crew members of the U.S. ship Essex stationed at Sasebo, about 610 miles southwest of Tokyo.
Relatives of the teenage girls asked authorities not to disclose details of the alleged sexual assaults, police said.
An operator at the Sasebo naval base said no one was available to comment late Friday.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. military lifted a late-night drinking ban on all service members on Okinawa, a rule imposed in July to curb rowdiness and prevent crime.
The ban and a late-night curfew were ordered to calm a community backlash on Japan’s southern island after misbehavior by U.S. troops stationed there.
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