(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-28 10:48

TOKYO -- A US Marine faces a court martial on charges of kidnapping and raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl on Japan's southern island of Okinawa in February, US military officials said on Friday.

The case prompted thousands of Okinawan residents to rally last month to protest against crimes by US troops and demand a smaller US military presence on the island, host to about half the nearly 50,000 US military personnel in Japan.

The US troops are stationed in Japan under a bilateral security treaty that is the pillar of Tokyo's post-war security policy, but those who live near the bases often complain about associated crime, noise and pollution.

US Marine Sergeant Tyrone Hadnott was arrested by police in February on suspicion of raping the girl, but Japanese prosecutors dropped the case after she withdrew her complaints, a move some in Okinawa said was to escape the public spotlight.

Hadnott has been charged under the US military justice code with rape and abusive sexual contact with a child under 16 and kidnapping through inveigling, the US Marine Corps in Okinawa said in a statement.

"The above are merely accusations," the Marines said. "The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair and impartial trial."

No date has been set for the court-martial.

Four other US Marines from a base in southwest Japan also face court martial over the rape of a Japanese woman last year.

LtGen. Edward Rice, the recently arrived commander of US troops in Japan, said earlier this month that he would demand high standards of behavior after the high-profile allegations against US servicemen, including the rapes and murder.