US serviceman charged for raping OFW

MANILA, Philippines – The US Army has charged the American serviceman accused of raping a Filipina in Okinawa, Japan last February after discovery of vital information during the course of the Army criminal investigation, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The DFA said Specialist Ronald Edward Hopstock Jr. was charged with rape on Monday under section 120 of the US Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

After the Japanese Ministry of Justice released jurisdiction over the case on May 16, 2008 and transferred its evidence to the US Army, the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine Honorary Consulate General in Naha, with the approval of the woman, retained additional legal counsel in Okinawa to protect the victim’s interests. The legal counsel has assisted her throughout the US Army investigation and has been present in all the hearings.

The US Army also charged Hopstock with additional offenses unrelated to the Filipina victim.

Also last Monday, the Commander of the 10th Army Support Group, US Army Japan, appointed an independent officer (IO) to conduct an Article 32 (UCMJ) hearing.

The IO will determine whether reasonable grounds exist to believe that Hopstock committed the offenses with which he has been charged.

An Article 32 hearing is a prerequisite to a court-martial.  

The procedure shares some similarities with Rule 112 of the Philippine “Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.”

Rule 112 requires that an investigating officer conduct a preliminary investigation to determine if there are reasonable grounds to believe that a crime has been committed.

“In the Hopstock matter, if the IO does find reasonable grounds, the case will progress to a general court-martial,” the DFA said.

The DFA said that the Philippine government will continue to support the Filipina victim throughout the criminal procedure and has offered other assistance as may be needed.

Last July 2, the DFA had announced that the American serviceman would face court-martial proceedings.

DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos Jr. said no date for the start of the court-martial was immediately set but that the US military was taking cognizance of the case.

The DFA has approved the recommendation of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo to hire a second Japanese lawyer to represent the victim in the court-martial proceedings.

Conejos emphasized that making representations with the US military authorities for the initiation of court-martial proceedings against the American serviceman was the option considered by the government and the victim.

He said that this was the option resorted to by a Japanese woman allegedly raped by a US serviceman but whose case was also dismissed by the prosecutor.

Conejos said the victim’s family was updated on the developments of the case.

Asked about the appeal for a petition for reconsideration or re-investigation, Conejos said the government is carefully studying the legal measure after the victim’s lawyer discussed the difficulty to overturn the decision dismissing the rape case against the US soldier.

The government was considering filing a petition for a reinvestigation of the case against the American serviceman before the Public Prosecutors Office.

The government pushed both the reinvestigation and court-martial case to ensure that the Filipina gets justice.

The Naha Public Prosecutor dismissed the rape case filed by the Filipina victim against the American serviceman for lack of probable cause to indict the suspect.

The DFA said the Filipina is now under the custody of the Archbishop of Naha and the Philippine Consulate General.