OKINAWA, JAPAN (BNO NEWS) – A United States Marine was arrested on Wednesday for an alleged sexual assault of a woman on the island of Okinawa, Japan. The American serviceman has denied the charges.

Phillip Edward Sawyer, 28, a Marine Sergeant, was taken into custody in the capital of Naha on early Wednesday. He is suspected of breaking in to the apartment of a woman in her 20s and sexually assaulted her.

The police was tipped off by a neighbor who arrived to the apartment of the victim in fifteen minutes. In Okinawa, similar incidents in the past have caused protests against the American military presence in the island.

The U.S. Marine Corps based in Okinawa acknowledged the arrest and announced that they are fully cooperating with the investigation by the Naha Police Department.

In 1995, a U.S. military man raped a 12-year-old girl which forced the U.S. to relocate an airbase from central to northern Okinawa. The Japanese held a demonstration in 1998 following the arrest of a U.S. marine on sexual assault charges.

Japanese people urged their government to remove the U.S. military forces from the Island. Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama resigned due to his failure to do so. He promised during his campaign to relocate the base off the island but failed to do so.

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