Okinawa prosecutors handed over a 19-year-old U.S. Marine accused of molesting a junior high school girl to the U.S military Sunday, abandoning jurisdiction in the case, prosecutors said.
The marine is expected to face a court martial in Okinawa, where the incident took place. If the prosecutors had arraigned him, he would have been tried before a family court, because he is a minor.
Local police arrested the marine, posted at the Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, on July 3 for allegedly breaking into a house in the city of Okinawa and molesting the 14-year-old girl as she slept.
The Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office said it turned the suspect over to the U.S. military after considering the case and the wishes of the victim and her family.