Photo/Illutration Rina Gonoi speaks about the sexual harassment she faced while a member of the Ground Self-Defense Force at a news conference in January. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

FUKUSHIMA--In a rare reversal, prosecutors here backtracked and indicted three former Self-Defense Force members on charges of sexually assaulting a former female member, who went public with her complaint and requested a further investigation. 

The Fukushima District Public Prosecutors Office on March 17 said that the three members were indicted on a charge of indecent assault against Rina Gonoi, 23.

The Koriyama branch of the prosecutors office in May 2022 decided not to press charges against the three on grounds of insufficient evidence.

But prosecutors were forced to conduct a new investigation after a prosecution inquest committee in Koriyama in September found the decision to not indict as being inappropriate.

Gonoi and her three male colleagues were all based at the Ground SDF’s Camp Koriyama.

According to the indictment, the three SDF members held Gonoi to the floor of a training exercise building in Hokkaido on Aug. 3, 2021, and repeatedly pressed their crotches against her.

Prosecutors did not divulge the names of the three because they were indicted without being taken into custody.

Gonoi issued a statement on March 17 that said, “I finally feel as though my efforts have been rewarded. I want those involved to realize that their actions constituted a crime and to atone for their crime.”

After prosecutors decided last year not to indict, Gonoi went public about the sexual harassment she faced in the GSDF and asked the prosecution inquest panel to look into the matter.

The three members were among five discharged from the SDF in December for the incident against Gonoi as well as other female members.

Naoki Kajiwara, commander of the GSDF Northeastern Army, which oversees Camp Koriyama, issued a statement that said, “We seriously accept this decision. We will continue to implement thorough guidance to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.”

(This article was written by Tetsuya Kasai and Nobuyuki Takiguchi.)

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