NAHA, Japan - Three US servicemen were convicted yesterday by the Naha District Court of the rape of a 12 year old Okinawan girl and sentenced to prison terms of up to seven years.
Navy seaman Marcus Gill (23) was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, as was marine private Rodrico Harp (21), while private Kendrick, Ledet (20) received a 6 1/2 year sentence for raping the schoolgirl on the night of September 4th last year.
Prosecutors had demanded that all three be sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, maintaining that Gill and Harp had raped the girl and Ledet had, intended to do so.
The three servicemen had, been on trial since November.
More than 80,000 Okinawans staged Japan's largest protest rally against the US military presence in the country as a direct result of the rape, which has strained relations between Washington and Tokyo.