TOKYO – On Saturday, Tokyo police arrested a sailor assigned to theAmerican aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan for alleged sexual assault.
“We are cooperating with Japanese authorities,” Naval Forces Japanspokesperson Commander Reann Mommsen said in a Monday statement, Stars andStripes reported. “Due to the ongoing investigation and privacy concerns,it would be inappropriate for us to comment on any additional details.”
US Navy officials did not identify the accused sailor. However, a Navyofficial told Stars and Stripes that the alleged sexual assault victim wasnot a Japanese citizen.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police department, which was also recently contactedby Stars and Stripes, did not disclose any details.
The arrest comes shortly after the Reagan’s captain, Michael Donnelly,enforced a short-term alcohol ban on Reagan sailors Sunday morningfollowing an increase in alcohol-related incidents. The ban was liftedMonday after an all-hands call aboard the ship emphasized “the importanceof safe and professional conduct every day, on and off duty,” Mommsenexplained.
One of the incidents this weekend involved the injury of a Reagan sailorat a Yokosuka barracks.
Navy officials did not provide any additional details, but did confirm thatthe sailor’s condition is stable and the incident is under examination.
The USS Ronald Reagan is a Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered aircraft carrierand the flagship of the US Navy’s Carrier Strike Group Five, the onlyforward-based carrier strike group homeported in Yokosuka. There areabout 3,000 sailors in its crew.