US soldier denies raping Japanese woman

The US soldier charged with raping a 20-year-old local woman on the Japanese island of Okinawa has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Timothy Woodland told a court on the island that he and the Japanese woman had consensual sex.

The prosecution has alleged that he grabbed the woman from behind, forced her onto the bonnet of a car and raped her.

Woodland faces a minimum of two years in prison if convicted.