Two cases of sexual crimes allegedly by people linked to the U.S. military have occurred since 2021 in Kanagawa Prefecture but were not publicly disclosed, prefectural police officials said Thursday.
The police reported both cases to the U.S. military, but the prefectural government was not aware of the incidents.
When U.S. forces-related personnel are arrested or referred to prosecutors, police inform the U.S. military, which then relays the information to prefectural governments via the Japanese Foreign Ministry and others.
The Kanagawa police cited the protection of victims' privacy as the reason for not disclosing the cases and denied that the suspected perpetrators' connection to U.S. forces were behind the move.
According to the police, a U.S. military member was referred to prosecutors in 2022 on suspicion of forcible sexual intercourse resulting in injury, while a civilian employed by the U.S. military was arrested this year over alleged indecent assault without consent. Prosecutors did not press charges in either case.
"The prefecture has not been informed," a Kanagawa prefectural official in charge of matters related to military bases said. "There are many things that are unclear at this stage, so we will respond while checking with related institutions."