Austin keeping close eye on U.S. troops' sex crime cases in Okinawa

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is closely tracking the cases of U.S. military personnel accused of committing sexual crimes in the southern Japan island prefecture of Okinawa, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday, amid renewed anti-base sentiment among local residents.Defense Department spokesman Pat Ryder said the United States regrets such incidents and is working closely with Japanese communities to deal with their concerns over the cases, in one of which a U.S. Air Force serviceman has been charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 16 in the prefecture."T…READ FULL ARTICLE