Japanese Court Convicts Two US Navy Sailors of Rape and Robbery

A Japanese court sentenced two U.S. Navy Sailors to lengthy prison terms on March 1 after they were convicted of raping and robbing a woman in Okinawa on Oct. 16, 2012.

Seaman Christopher Browning, 24, was sentenced to 10 years in prison with forced labor, and Petty Officer Skyler Dozierwalker, 23, received nine years confinement with forced labor for the rape. The court also convicted Browning of robbing the victim of 7,000 yen, or about $89. The two will serve their sentences in a Japanese prison.

In handing down the verdict, presiding judge Hideyuki Suzuki said the sentences were in line with the severity of the crimes, which he called “contemptible and violent.”

Both reserve Sailors were temporarily deployed to Japan with a VR-59 reserve air detachment based at Joint Naval Air Station, Fort Worth, Texas. According to reports, they arrived in Okinawa on a brief stopover, two days before the crime, and were drinking before the rape.

The crime also resulted in a curfew and drinking restrictions on all 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.

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Naval Today Staff, March 6, 2013