Japan arrests US serviceman for sexual assault

Tokyo: Police in northern Japan on Friday arrested a US serviceman or sexually assaulting a young woman, in the latest in a string of such cases involving the American military that have sparked anger among Japanese.

The 22-year-old man, stationed at Misawa Air Base in Aomori prefecture, at the northern tip of Japan's main island, is alleged to have groped the woman on the street early last morning, a police spokesman said.

Kyodo news agency said the victim was 19 and was walking home from a friend's house alone when attacked. Police declined to give further details.

Earlier incidents

A US Marine faces a court martial on charges of kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old girl on Japan's southern island of Okinawa in February, in a case that sparked angry demonstrations on the island.

Four other US Marines from a base in southwest Japan also face court martial over the rape of a Japanese woman last year and a US sailor was arrested by Japanese police last month on suspicion of murdering a taxi driver.