Australian Catherine Jane Fisher, who was raped by a U.S. Navy sailor in Yokosuka in 2002, has now taken her case for compensation all the way to the U.S. courts.

A civil judgment by a Tokyo court in 2004 ordered Bloke T. Deans to pay ¥3 million in damages to Fisher as compensation for the rape, but by the time the ruling was issued, Deans had already left the country. The Japanese courts were unable to enforce the ruling and Fisher never received a penny from Deans.

Fisher did eventually receive some compensation, but it was not until 2008 and the money came from a Japanese Ministry of Defense fund for victims of crimes committed by U.S. military personnel.