The Supreme Court handed out a jail term of 22 years and 10 month to socialite Justin Lee (李宗瑞), who was convicted of sexual assault and related offenses against five female victims.
Yesterday’s ruling was final and cannot be appealed. Some legal experts said it is one of the heaviest sentences for sexual assault and related offenses in recent years.
Lee reportedly used his wealthy family background to live like a playboy, frequenting Taipei nightclubs beginning in 2009. He was accused of taking young women home, where he drugged and sexually assaulted them. He was also accused of filming the incidents without the knowledge of his female partners.
Prosecutors gathered evidence and testimonies that indicated Lee sexually assaulted 34 women and filmed 20 of the victims.
Lee’s case became the focus of public attention in 2012, as photographs and videos taken by Lee of the victims were circulated on the Internet.
Thirty-year-old Lee comes from a wealthy family. His father, Lee Yueh-tsang (李岳蒼), was a board member of Yuanta Financial Holding Co and a director at Yuanta Securities Co, but resigned after his son’s offenses were made public.
In September last year, the High Court sentenced Lee to 30 years in prison and ordered him to pay compensation to the victims amounting to NT$27.75 million (US$853,504).
During investigations police found many pictures and explicit videos — some with Lee engaging in sexual acts with the victims — on a computer seized at Lee’s Taipei residence.
Lee was accused of drugging the women he brought home, then secretly filming them in sexual acts. Lee maintained that all acts were consensual.
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