A former United States Air Force serviceman accused of carrying out a series of sexual assaults and rapes against women in eastern England avoided prosecution in British courts after local authorities transferred part of the investigation to the American military justice system.
The case centres on James Loubeau, 38, who was accused of attacking six women in Suffolk and neighbouring areas during a four-month period in 2019. Some of the alleged victims claimed they were assaulted while unconscious or intoxicated, while others alleged he entered their homes without permission before attacking them.
The controversy has reignited scrutiny of arrangements governing criminal investigations involving US military personnel stationed in the United Kingdom.
Two British women first reported Loubeau and another American airman to Suffolk Police in August 2019, alleging they had been drugged and sexually assaulted after meeting the men at a nightclub in Bury St Edmunds. According to court records, the women said they later awoke confused and unclothed after being taken to a room on RAF Mildenhall, a US military base in Suffolk.
Although Suffolk Police initially opened an investigation, responsibility for the case was transferred to US military authorities less than two weeks later.
Under longstanding agreements between the UK and the United States, American military authorities may exercise jurisdiction in certain cases involving service personnel, particularly when alleged victims are also members of the US armed forces. However, British police generally retain primary responsibility for offences committed against civilians on UK soil.
Investigations later linked Loubeau to allegations from several other women, including American service personnel stationed at RAF Mildenhall.
One case proceeded to a US military court in 2020, where a female service member accused Loubeau of entering her room and sexually assaulting her while she drifted in and out of consciousness. He was acquitted during the court-martial proceedings.
Despite the acquittal, Loubeau was discharged from the Air Force the same year. Military records cited disciplinary issues, including inappropriate behaviour towards women and theft-related misconduct.
After returning to the United States, Loubeau became the subject of an FBI investigation. Authorities eventually secured a breakthrough through DNA evidence linked to a separate alleged victim, a 19-year-old American service member stationed in England.
Federal prosecutors said Loubeau unlawfully entered the young woman’s accommodation at RAF Mildenhall in 2019 before sexually assaulting her. The case was prosecuted under US laws that permit the prosecution of American military personnel for crimes committed overseas.
In July 2025, a federal court in Miami convicted Loubeau of sexual assault. He was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to remain under supervision for 20 years after his release due to concerns about the risk of reoffending.
Court filings described his alleged conduct as part of a wider pattern of predatory behaviour targeting vulnerable women. Prosecutors argued that the incidents demonstrated a belief that he could act without consequences.
Questions have since been raised about why some of the allegations involving British victims never proceeded through the UK criminal justice system.
Suffolk Police has acknowledged reviewing the circumstances surrounding its decision to hand investigative responsibility to the US military and is examining broader procedures relating to similar case transfers.
The review comes amid growing attention on several incidents involving US service personnel in Britain where local police forces relinquished control of investigations to American military authorities.
Neither the US Air Force investigative authorities nor Loubeau’s legal representatives provided detailed comments on the jurisdictional decisions that shaped the handling of the case.
