US Marine Hears His Fate in Japan in Sexual Assault Case

Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 22, of Ohio gets 7 years after May 2024 attack on Okinawa

Wires
June 25, 2025

Judicial members including Judge Kazuhiko Obata, center back, are seen in Naha, Japan, on Tuesday. Kyodo photo

A Japanese court has found a US Marine guilty of sexually assaulting a woman on Okinawa and sentenced him to seven years in prison, per the AP. The Naha District Court said Lance Cpl. Jamel Clayton, 22, of Ohio, was sentenced on Tuesday after being found guilty of attacking a woman in her 20s last year in the village of Yomitan. Judge Kazuhiko Obata said the victim's testimony, provided remotely and anonymously, was highly credible, per Kyodo News. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 10 years.

"This behavior does not reflect the values of the Marine Corps, nor does it exemplify the standards the overwhelming majority of our Marines uphold daily," Capt. Kazuma Engelkemier, spokesperson for the 3rd Marine Division, said in a statement. Engelkemier said the US monitored the trial proceedings without interfering in the Japanese judicial process. "We cooperated fully with the investigation process," he said. The Marine has been in Japanese custody since his indictment.

Okinawa, where one of the fiercest battles of World War II was fought 80 years ago and under US occupation until 1972, remains home to the majority of about 50,000 US troops stationed in Japan under a bilateral security pact. The island, which accounts for only 0.6% of Japanese land, hosts 70% of US military facilities. Frustration runs high on Okinawa over the US presence because of the resulting noise, pollution, aircraft accidents, and crime related to American troops.