Military

DATE=07/19/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=OKINAWA RAPE CHARGE - S

NUMBER=2-

BYLINE=AMY BICKERS

DATELINE=TOKYO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Japanese prosecutors have charged a U-S Air Force sergeant with raping an Okinawan woman on June 29th. V-O-A Tokyo Correspondent Amy Bickers has more on the case that has re-ignited controversy over the American military

presence in Japan.

TEXT: Staff Sergeant Timothy Woodland was formally charged Thursday with raping a local woman on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on June 29th.

Prosecutors say that the suspect raped the woman, who is in her twenties, in a parking lot near Kadena Air Base and then fled. Mr. Woodland has consistently denied the allegations, saying sex with the woman was consensual.

Mr. Woodland is only the second U-S serviceman to be handed over to Japanese police before the filing of formal charges. The process was

delayed for days because of U-S concerns about Mr. Woodland's rights and treatment in Japanese custody.

The delay strained relations between Washington and Tokyo and renewed calls in Japan for a re-examination of the bilateral pact covering the

47-thousand U-S forces in this country. (Signed)

NEB/HK/AB/HB/JO