Anyway, pretending that all 14 year olds are sexually chaste and unwilling victims, particularly in cultures with more liberal sexual attitudes than in the puritan USA, is ignorant and credulous. Additionally, realize that if Hadnott had instead been Kobayashi, then this whole issue would never have made the news, even if there was real evidence that an actual rape had occurred. More than anything, what this episode brilliantly illustrates is the deeply ingrained, pathological racism of the Japanese people.

This is a 38 year old man. There is no way I would mistake a 14 year old girl for a grown woman unless she was the unfortunate victim of a terrible car crash where she suffered 3rd degree burns over 90% of her body. I have never been to any country, including Japan, where a 14 year old looked like a grown woman. Sorry, I don’t buy it and this pervert needs his balls chopped off. Don’t try to fool yourself, this guy knew exactly what he was doing and with who. He may not have performed intercourse with this girl, but give him a polygraph and I bet there would be a significant response to the knowledge of age and what he intended to do.

From what I have read, it appears like this guy picked up the girl looking for a date for the night and assumed that a girl accepting a ride from a total stranger on the back of his motorcycle at 8 PM would be willing. Turns out it was a wrong assumption and he got in trouble. However, there is a law in Japan prohibiting sexual acts with a minor, which does not necessitate a charge from a victim for the police to take action. That means, if the there was solid evidence of a rape, this marine would still be tried even if the girl had dropped charges. His release means that there was no evidence of such sexual acts.