A U.S. Navy sailor has been charged with assaulting a prostitute while on shore leave in Australia's biggest city last weekend, police and the U.S. Embassy said Tuesday.
The 25-year-old man, who was not identified, was charged late Monday with assault involving bodily harm, following an incident at a brothel in Sydney on Sunday, police said in a statement.
He was released on bail, the statement said.
It identified the man as a Marine, but the U.S. Embassy in Canberra later corrected that to say he was a Navy sailor, not a Marine.
The U.S. Navy said it was cooperating in the Australian investigation and also conducting its own.
"The Navy investigates all potential instances of sexual misconduct and has zero tolerance," Lt. Catherine Wallace, deputy public affairs officer with the U.S. 7th Fleet, said in an e-mail response to questions from The Associated Press.
The sailor was one of 3,000 Marines and Navy personnel on shore leave in Sydney after the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu and guided missile destroyer USS Halsey arrived in the port Friday.
He was allowed to return to his ship and both vessels departed Tuesday.
Wallace said the sailor or his attorney would attend a hearing Nov. 10 to address the charges and set a date for trial.
"The sailor will appear at all hearings that require his presence including any trial," she said.
In another incident during the shore leave, a U.S. Marine was being treated at a Sydney hospital for a fractured skull and other head injuries after allegedly being assaulted Saturday night, police said. The 23-year-old man was in stable but serious condition, they said. His identity also was not given.
