US Sailor charged

[Belangalo]

Article found at dailytelegraph.com.au By Gemma Jones Oct 14 2008

A uS Navy sailor on recreational leave was last night charged over the alleged sexual assault of a prostitute.

The 25-year-old sailor was late yesterday escorted by a uniformed officer and two military personnel from two US Navy vessels docked at Garden Island to Kings Cross police station for questioning.

A friend of the prostitue said the young woman was allegedlyso distressed she felt she had been ''chewed by a lawn mower'' following the incident at a Kings Cross brothel on Sunday night.

The sailor is from USS Pelieliu which has been docked in Sydney , along with another US ship , flooding the city with thousands of sailors and marines. "She was black and blue''the prostitutes friend alleged. ''She was distressed as hell.'' The friend said the woman , aged in her early 20s , was offered a rape kit examination. The woman was said to be reluctant to make a formal statement. Police contacted her yesterday , the friend said.

A spokeswoman for the US consulate said it was aware of the allegations against the sailor. She confirmed the sailor had been interviewed by police and the and the US Navy was co-operating fully with local authorities.

A witness at the brothel said the property was ''crawling with police'' following the alleged assault , after several hours of questioning the sailor was last night charged with aggravated sexual assault inflicting actual bodily harm.

He was granted bail and will face Downing Centre Local Court on November 10, it is understood the USS Pelieliu will leave today but it is unclear whether the sailor is permitted to leave Sydney.

The sailor is a petty officer second class and it is believed his role is mainly with small arms on the ship. The escort who led the sailor into the police station left about 4pm but returned at 6pm. Police handed one of the men what appeared to be a white plastic bag.

US ''shore patrol''squads were out in force in Kings Cross last night.

Wearing armbands with the initals SP , one of the men said they were there to ''prevent incidents from happening.''

Meanwhile , a 23-year-old US Marine was in an induced coma in St Vincent's hospital after he was allegedly bashed in Kings Cross about 2am on Sunday.
Police said the corporal was on shore leave from the Pelieliuand had put his hand up to block the path of a car in Roslyn Street.

A passenger got out of the car and punched the serviceman , causing him to fall and hit his head on the road.

Witnesses removed him from the road and called an ambulance. ''Police say the passenger , without provocation , punched the man causing him to fall heavily to the ground ,'' a police spokseman said.