Iwakuni Marine sentenced for attempted rape

Iwakuni Marine sentenced for attempted rape


By Greg Tyler and Hana Kusumoto, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, March 20, 2004


A U.S. Marine charged in attempted rape of a 53-year-old Japanese woman in Iwakuni last year received a suspended three-year prison sentence Thursday in Yamaguchi District Court.

Pfc. William E. McIntosh, 22, of Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station, pleaded guilty to the attempted rape during a Jan. 15 court session. The sentence is suspended for four years.

It is possible he still could be punished by the Marine Corps. “He was returned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron here, and any possible further action is to be considered,” said base spokesman Capt. Stewart Upton.

At the February court appearance, McIntosh “came across as very sincere and remorseful,” said Iwakuni Staff Judge Advocate Lt. Col. Charlie Stubbs, who was present as an observer.

“The sentence is appropriate because it took into account his feelings of repentance, the fact that he paid compensation to the victim and a letter from the victim requesting leniency,” said Tomoyuki Morishige, McIntosh’s attorney, after the sentencing.

McIntosh’s indictment accused him of grabbing the woman about 3 a.m. on Aug. 1, holding her “by the neck with both hands” to prevent her from resisting and knocking her to the ground in the parking lot of an off-base dental clinic. At that point, he hit her in the face with his fists, the indictment said.

The prosecution contended in previous court sessions that McIntosh “seemed to have a sudden sense of guilt for what he was doing and stopped” but followed her for a block. He then began hitting her again with his fists and delivered several open-handed slaps across her face, inflicting “bruises and other injuries requiring about 24 days to heal,” the prosecutor’s statement read.

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Ellie