Raphael Lin (林秉樞), who was last year convicted of abusing Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kao Chia-yu (高嘉瑜), was ordered to serve his full prison sentence with the possibility of parole, after prosecutors on Friday decided it could not be commuted into a fine.
The New Taipei District Court last year sentenced Lin on 13 counts for a total of two years and 10 months in prison. All but the eight-month sentence for assault were commutable to a fine of NT$780,000.
The High Court on Sept. 26 finalized the case after confirming that Lin did not appeal the eligible counts.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Lin on Friday morning appeared to serve 17 days in prison, calculated by deducting the 227 days he was in custody toward the eight-month assault count.
However, prosecutors in a hearing decided that as Lin was a repeat offender, he could not commute the remaining counts into a fine, ordering him to serve the full two years, two months and 17 days if not released early on parole.
Lin has shown himself to be habitually violent toward women and continued to commit similar crimes, even while under a suspended sentence, they said.
He has also failed to reconcile with the victim, resulting in serious physical and psychological trauma, they added.
If Lin were allowed to commute his sentence, his repentance would be incomplete and he would run a heightened risk of recidivism, prosecutors said.
The sentence stems from a case in 2021, when prosecutors found that Lin had abused and threatened Kao on multiple occasions, including by taking intimate images and confining her in a hotel room for two days.
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