3 Ex-GSDF Men Finally Charged with Sexual Assault

Fukushima, March 17 (Jiji Press)--Public prosecutors indicted three former male members of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force without arrest on Friday on charges of sexually assaulting former female colleague Rina Gonoi.

The Fukushima District Public Prosecutors Office decided to bring the charges against the men after reviewing its initial decision to forgo indictment in the wake of a prosecution inquest panel ruling calling for their prosecution.

According to the indictment, the three committed sexual abuse on Gonoi, who was belonging to the GSDF's Camp Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, in a building in an exercise area in Hokkaido on Aug. 3, 2021, including acts of pushing her onto a bed and pressing the lower part of their bodies against her.

Receiving a report from Gonoi, the GSDF's police unit launched an investigation and referred the men to public prosecutors.

But the prosecutors office dropped the sexual violence charges citing insufficient evidence.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]