Police officers in the southern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa have arrested a member of the US Marine Corps on suspicion of touching a woman's breasts. They say that the man has denied the allegation.
The officers arrested 22-year-old US Marine Private First Class Sean Sabol. The Marine belongs to the US camp that is located in the city of Urasoe.
The incident allegedly occurred on the stairs of a commercial building in the city of Naha at around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday. The authorities say the man is suspected of touching the breasts of a Japanese woman who works at a shop. The woman is in her 20s, and the two did not know each other.
The woman called the police. Officers then rushed to the scene and arrested Sabol on the spot.
The arrest comes on the heels of revelations about two other cases of alleged sexual assault in Okinawa involving US military personnel. Those cases recently came to light. One incident happened last December and the other occurred in May of this year.
People in Okinawa have been expressing their outrage.