Prosecutors have charged a man with sexually harassing a young Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) staffer in Taipei last year.
Cheng Shih-yao (鄭世曜), 66, allegedly offered to provide the woman with legal advice after she approached him at a Lunar New Year banquet in February last year, Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media reported yesterday.
The woman, described as “young and attractive,” was quoted by the magazine as saying that she sought Cheng’s advice, because she thought he had good connections with DPP officials and party insiders.
Cheng offered to take her along on a visit to a temple at an unspecified date later that month, she was quoted as saying.
On the ride to the temple, Cheng parked at a remote spot along a mountain road and allegedly tried to kiss and grope the woman, the magazine said.
Even though she refused his advances, Cheng persisted in groping her, the woman was quoted as saying, adding that she recorded audio from the incident on her mobile phone and later filed a complaint at a local police station.
The allegations have caused more negative publicity for Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷), as Cheng was an executive for the Taiwan Chang Gong Association, a political action group launched by Hsieh’s friends and supporters to organize activities and provide financial support for the former DPP chairman.
When questioned by prosecutors, Cheng reportedly denied the allegations, saying that he and the woman were having an affair at the time and that she was a consenting partner.
He also sought to distance himself from Hsieh and the association, saying that he was no longer a member and that the group had not been active for some time
Cheng later told reporters that when he met the woman, she was crying and told him that she was unemployed and had to pay her family’s medical bills, and that she had no money to get through the Lunar New Year holiday.
“She then asked me to become her sugar daddy, so I gave her NT$100,000 to spend,” he said.
When they met for a second time, she again cried and embraced him, Cheng said, adding that she asked him for more money.
He denied groping or sexually harassing the woman when they met.
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