It is not looking good for those brigade commander because he has already admitted to what he complains was consensual sex with the staff sergeant:
The military arrested a brigade commander on Tuesday over allegations that he raped a female subordinate multiple times in his military residence in Gangwon, the latest in a series of sexual abuse cases that have shaken the military since last year.
The Army reported on Tuesday that it had arrested the colonel in Gangwon at around 3 p.m., after collecting testimony he had sexually abused a 21-year-old staff sergeant on several occasions since late last year.
The military said it first found out about the case involving the 47-year-old colonel on Monday. His identity has not been revealed, and the military suspects he sexually assaulted the woman more than once at his military residence. The suspect has reportedly denied the charge, claiming the contact was consensual, while the victim has maintained it was forced.
The brigade commander’s arrest follows the apprehension of a major in the same unit, who stands accused of sexually harassing a female staff sergeant. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I wonder if the ROK Army has the same regulations forbidding relationships like the US Army has?
Maybe this is just a translation error, but does anyone know how does the ROK Army have 18-year old Staff Sergeants?
A South Korean Army sergeant was arrested Thursday on charges of repeated sexual assaults of an 18-year-old solider, local media reported.
The 26-year-old sergeant first class, identified only as Kim, is accused of having raped his junior colleague, a staff sergeant who is also male, several times since March this year. [Korea Observer]
You can read more at the link.
This is seriously messed up stuff here:
Prosecutors indicted three teenagers on charges of sexually and physically abusing a 15-year-old high school girl, local media reported Sunday.
Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office found that a 16-year-old girl broke into the victim’s house with her two teen friends and brutally assaulted her on Aug. 8 for speaking ill of her.
The victim and one of the perpetrators were classmates.
The three perpetrators allegedly dragged her out of the house and locked her in the basement of a deserted building for five days.
The victim was stripped of her clothes and forced to engage in “pseudo-sex” while being photographed. Moreover, the perpetrators forced the 15-year-old victim to eat her own excrement, swallow cigarette butts and lick their spit off the floor. [Korea Observer]
You can read more at the link, but hopefully these teenagers receive very harsh punishment for this horrible crime and not get off light like the teenagers involved in the Miryang gang rape case a few years ago.
Who the heck tries to rape somebody on an airplane?:
A Japan Airlines flight returned to Honolulu after a male passenger sexually assaulted a female passenger in the airplane’s bathroom, the FBI said.
FBI agents arrested Michael Tanouye on Saturday night at Honolulu International Airport for interfering with flight crew and for aggravated sexual assault aboard an aircraft. The 29-year-old resident of Hilo, Hawaii, was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.
An FBI affidavit says the flight was en route to Kansai International Airport when the attack allegedly occurred.
The woman, who was returning home to Japan with her mother after a four-day vacation in Hawaii, went to use the restroom about an hour and 45 minutes after takeoff. Tanouye allegedly forced his way inside, grabbed her by the shoulders and began to forcefully pull down her pants and underwear. [Japan Times]
You can read more at the link, but fortunately this guy was not able to complete the rape of this woman because she was able to push the emergency button in the bathroom to get help to subdue this loon.
Wow, there is so much wrong with this story from Bucheon:
A naked Korean police couple were discovered having sex in a public park in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, local media reported Friday.
The two were reportedly found naked and having sexual intercourse on a park bench at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday. The Chosun Ilbo claims that a resident reported to the police that the couple were performing an obscene act in a public place. [Korea Observer via reader tip]
You can read more at the link, but shockingly alcohol was involved in this incident, the female officer tried to pull the “Do you know who I am” card, and then finally resulted to claiming rape. This woman should be fired not for her sex in public escapade, but the fact she decided to claim rape to avoid responsibility for her actions.
Two US soldiers in Italy are accused of raping and beating a pregnant prostitute:
VICENZA, Italy — Two Vicenza-based soldiers accused of beating, robbing and raping a pregnant woman earlier this month are being detained in the barracks under house arrest pending proceedings in an Italian court.
One of the men already stands accused of raping a 17-year-old girl last year in a case still winding its way through Italian courts. That soldier was not held in detention after the first reported rape in November because the judge said he was not likely to commit a similar offense, according to the Vicenza Giornale newspaper.
Both soldiers, with the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, were placed under “house arrest” this month in their barracks at Caserma Del Din by order of an Italian magistrate, said Maj. Mike Weisman, a unit spokesman.
“The two soldiers are under continuous military supervision and are subject to inspections at any time from Italian law enforcement or judicial authorities,” Weisman said.
According to accounts in the Italian press, the two men raped, beat and robbed a 24-year-old Romanian woman, who allegedly sometimes worked as a prostitute, after first agreeing to pay her for sex. According to the accounts, she was six months pregnant. [Stars and Stripes]
You can read more at the link.
It is looking more and more like the Mapo GI rape case doesn’t have much evidence to support it considering how long it is taking to get an indictment. Here is an update on the case provided by the Marmot’s Hole:
According to the Herald Gyeongje, Women Corea released a statement today demanding that Seoul Seobu prosecutors quickly indict the GI accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Mapo and steeling her notebook computer. They noted it’s been over half a month since police turned the case over to the prosecutors to decide whether to indict, but prosecutors have not indicted the GI. This means the prosecutors, who hold “absolute power,” is minding USFK.
They also warned—perhaps unaware of the impact such a warning could have on any future discussions over amending the SOFA—that if the prosecutors didn’t quickly indict the suspect, they would run up against public resistance.
In response, a high-ranking prosecutor said prosecutors will still conducting additional investigations, and that the indictment wasn’t coming any later than it would in other cases. He also stressed that the suspect and USFK was cooperating fully with the investigation and that he and his office were not carrying out a lazy investigation or minding USFK. [Marmot’s Hole]
This case reminds me of the policewoman rape case where the evidence didn’t support what happened but the GI was indicted and convicted anyway likely due to public pressure at the time. After the media sensationalism died down the GI appealed the sentence and his conviction was overturned by the appeals court. I can see the same thing happening here. The prosecutors may just be waiting to see if the media attention dies down or not before making a decision to indict him. If the media attention doesn’t die down they will probably go ahead and indict and convict him despite the lack of evidence and then let the appeals court let him go after the media attention dies down.
There probably isn’t a greater miscarriage of justice against a USFK servicemember than what happened to this soldier upon arrival at Incheon International Airport back in 2004:
The Seoul High Court yesterday overturned the conviction by a lower court of a 49-year old taxi driver who had been charged with the rape of a 19-year old U.S. female soldier.
The man had received a 10-month prison term in the original trial after being convicted of luring the newly-arrived servicewoman from Incheon International Airport to a hotel near there where the woman said he raped her.
The woman reported the incident to U.S. military authorities, who asked for assistance from Korean prosecutors.
The appeals court ruled that the woman had shown no evidence of having refused the man’s advances, and that he used “not enough violence to constitute rape.”
The prosecution said it would take the matter to the Supreme Court. The U.S. servicewoman returned to the United States in February; the defendant’s appeal was decided without her presence. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
So what are the odds that a 19 year old US soldier who arrived in the country for the first time would just suddenly want to have sex with a 49 year old taxi driver as soon as she gets off the plane? It doesn’t make any sense, but in the Korean court system it makes perfect sense. This is an incident that if it happened today USFK and the US government would probably have made large protests about with the cab driver not being punished for his crime. However, back in 2004 USFK was on the defensive due to the anti-US movement that had been triggered by the 2002 armored vehicle accident that killed two Korean school girls.
I have always hoped that everything turned out alright for this soldier who was raped and the perpetrator was allowed to walk. However, remember this story the next time someone makes the claim about GIs never being punished for crimes in Korea.
Note: You can read more GI Flashbacks articles by clicking on the below link:
The Marmot is reporting that the soldier involved in the despicable grandma rape case has been sentenced to 4 years in prison. The Marmot thinks that the soldier got off light. In a US court system and especially a military court it appears he did get off easy. Take the 2003 Camp Jackson sexual assault case for example, the NCO involved in the rape of a KATUSA soldier was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
However, if you compare the soldier’s sentence to Korean rape cases he was actually punished quite heavily. Take this case of a Korean national raping a US Army private just arriving in country and missed the bus to Yongsan and instead decided to take a taxi. Instead of a ride to Yongsan she was raped by the cab driver. What happened to the cab driver you may ask? Not much:
The Seoul High Court yesterday overturned the conviction by a lower court of a 49-year old taxi driver who had been charged with the rape of a 19-year old U.S. female soldier.
The man had received a 10-month prison term in the original trial after being convicted of luring the newly-arrived servicewoman from Incheon International Airport to a hotel near there where the woman said he raped her.
The woman reported the incident to U.S. military authorities, who asked for assistance from Korean prosecutors. The appeals court ruled that the woman had shown no evidence of having refused the man’s advances, and that he used not enough violence to constitute rape.
Fortunately a higher court later over turned this ridiculous ruling and gave the guy a sentence of two and half years in prison. But still two and half years for a predator that raped a 19 year old soldier? Isn’t this rape case just as disgusting as the rape of a 67 year old woman? At least this rape had some one arrested for it unlike when a US Army officer was raped by a Korean man in Taegu. How about this rape of an English teacher in Seoul that is particularly unsettling. Here is my personal favorite of a Korean man whose only punishment for attempting to rape a woman in his car was to lose his license. Most recently the ROK Army soldier who sexually assaulted a US female soldier on Camp Casey only received a sentence of 4 years probation.
Going by the Korean standard of recent sentencing of sexual assaults against foreigners, the convicted USFK soldier in this rape case should have received up to two and half years in jail to a minimum of four years probation and possibly lose his driver’s license.
For all the talk about the unfair SOFA Agreement, this is just one case in many I have seen where if the military tried the case the criminal would have probably spent more time in jail. Perfect example is the Camp Jackson case I mentioned earlier. Either way the criminal is in jail and justice was served, but it would be nice to see justice served against the criminals committing sexual assaults against foreigners as well.
