TOKYO , Japan ( CNN ) -- A U.S. Marine pleaded guilty Friday to abusive sexual contact with a child under 16 , bringing to a close a criminal case that stoked outrage in Japan , a Marine spokesman said . Protesters turned out in March after the rape allegations surfaced . The Marine pleaded guilty to charges Friday . Staff . Sgt . Tyrone L. Hadnott was sentenced to four years of confinement , said First Lt. Judd Wilson , a Marine spokesman in Okinawa , Japan . The Marine Corps withdrew several other charges , including rape of a child , kidnapping and making a false official statement , Wilson said . Japanese police arrested Hadnott in February on charges alleging that he raped a 14-year-old junior-high school student . He saw her while riding his motorcycle , offered to give her a ride and later assaulted her at a park , the police said then . The case stirred outrage at the highest levels of the Japanese government . Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda deplored the incident as `` unforgivable . '' The Japanese Foreign Ministry lodged an official protest with the U.S. government . And Okinawa Gov . Hirokazu Nakaima said the offense `` violates the rights of women '' and that `` this is a crime that we should not accept . '' The Japanese authorities released Hadnott after the girl withdrew her allegations , but the Marine Corps conducted its own investigation . The Marines charged Hadnott with rape of a child , abusive sexual contact , making a false official statement , adultery and kidnapping . More than 40,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan , most of them on Okinawa . The U.S. military presence has at times bred resentment among locals , who have long complained about crime , noise and accidents . Anti-American sentiments boiled over in 1995 , after three American servicemen kidnapped and gang-raped a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl . Two years ago , a U.S. civilian military employee was jailed for nine years for raping two women . The Marine Corps said in a statement on Friday that it does not tolerate sexual assault . `` We remain committed to maintaining an environment that rejects sexual assault and attitudes that promote such behaviors , '' the statement said .
U.S. Marine pleads guilty to abusive sexual contact with a child under 16 . The case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and NCIS. Sgt . Tyrone L. Hadnott is sentenced to four years confinement . The Marine Corps withdrew several other charges , including rape of a child .