U.S. man held over sexual assault on American base in Japan

USPA News - A Minnesota man who worked at a U.S. Air Force base on the Japanese island of Okinawa has been arrested and indicted in the United States after the alleged sexual assault of a child earlier this year, U.S. prosecutors said Monday, following controversial incidents in recent years. Ricky Isiah Sherwood, 18, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, was arrested at Kadena Air Force Base on Wednesday after a complaint was made.

Sherwood, an employee at Kadena Air Force Base and a dependent of a military service member, is accused of sexually assaulting a minor whilst on the base on February 11 and filming parts of the assault using his cellular phone. The U.S. Justice Department said Sherwood was indicted Monday on charges of sexual abuse, production of child pornography and possession of child pornography. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are currently investigating the case. Sherwood made his initial appearance via telephone before Magistrate Judge Tony Leung in the District of Minnesota after his arrest on Wednesday. The court ordered that Sherwood be detained and removed from Japan to the United States. Approximately 50,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in Okinawa, which was under U.S. control from 1945 through 1972. Local residents frequently protest against U.S. forces being stationed in their communities after American service members committed a number of transgressions. Concerns have been raised over similar incidents in the past, such as two U.S. Navy sailors who were sentenced to lengthy prison terms last year after they pleaded guilty to raping a young Japanese woman near the Kadena Air Base on October 16, 2012. One was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, the other to 9 years. Another incident was the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. service members in September 1995, which prompted huge protests and forced the U.S. to relocate to an airbase from central to northern Okinawa. It was followed by the arrest of a U.S. Marine in July 2000 after he molested a 14-year-old girl while she slept in her home, and an airman was detained that same month after a hit-and-run accident.