A US airman accused of multiple sexual assaults in England was able to evade prosecution by British authorities after local police transferred part of the investigation to the American military, raising questions about jurisdiction and accountability.
James Loubeau, 38, faced allegations of raping and sexually assaulting six women across East Anglia between April and August 2019. The accusations included drugging women and breaking into homes. The case initially came to light when two British women reported to Suffolk police in August 2019 that they had been drugged and raped by Loubeau and another US airman after meeting them at a nightclub in Bury St Edmunds. Despite the serious nature of the allegations, Suffolk police handed over the investigation less than two weeks later to the US Air Force.
Under a 1951 agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, the American military retains jurisdiction over crimes involving US service members on duty or when the victim is also a US military member. However, three of Loubeau’s alleged victims were British civilians who maintained that the assaults occurred while Loubeau was off duty, which traditionally would place the case under British police jurisdiction.
Three of the women connected to the allegations were also US military personnel stationed alongside Loubeau at RAF Mildenhall. One victim, an American servicewoman, accused Loubeau of breaking into her bedroom on the base in June 2019 and sexually assaulting her while she was semi-conscious. This allegation was tried in a court-martial on the base in 2020, resulting in an acquittal. Loubeau was subsequently discharged under honourable conditions later that year for unrelated minor infractions.
Following his discharge, Loubeau returned to the United States in 2021 and lived in Miami. In 2025, federal prosecutors in Miami secured a conviction against him for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old American service member in 2019, an assault that occurred on RAF Mildenhall. The conviction was based in part on DNA evidence linking him to the victim. Prosecutors described Loubeau’s behavior as a "frightening and dangerous" pattern of predation, involving attacks on women who were asleep or intoxicated. The judge sentenced him to five years in prison and ordered up to 20 years of supervised release, citing concerns that he might reoffend.
The case spotlighted complexities in handling criminal allegations involving foreign military personnel stationed in the UK. Suffolk police have declined to explain their early decision to cede jurisdiction to the US Air Force, only confirming that an internal review of the decision-making process is underway. Cambridgeshire police similarly pursued a separate allegation against Loubeau, reported in 2020 by a British woman who said she was assaulted in her home in 2019. That force concluded there was insufficient evidence to prosecute, and the victim did not support a case.
The US Air Force military police declined to comment on jurisdictional decisions, referring inquiries back to the local British authorities. The transfer of investigations from UK police to American military teams has drawn scrutiny, particularly amid a series of cases involving US service members in the East Anglia region who avoided British prosecution after similar jurisdictional shifts.
Loubeau’s legal representative did not respond to requests for comment on the case or its handling.