Socialite sex offender gets 18 years
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 4, 2013
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Socialite Justin Lee and Maggie Wu (R), one of his victims. Justin Lee, charged with date rape, was sentenced to 18 years in jail at a local court in Taipei, August 3, 2013. [China.org.cn] |
Socialite Justin Lee, charged with date rape, was sentenced to 18 years in jail yesterday at a local court in Taipei.
After the trial, the court ruled that Lee had indeed sexually offended nine women and had secretly recorded himself having sex with 15 women. The first crime saw Lee sentenced to 18 years and six months in prison; the second crime got him another three years and 10 months. The second sentence, however, could be converted into a fine.
Lee, the son of businessman Lee Yue-chang, has been embroiled in sex scandals involving a total of 30 women, several of which accused him of drugging and raping them while capturing his actions on video. The court stated that 14 out of the alleged 30 victims had not filed any complaints. Regarding the remaining 16 who did actually file a complaint, the court ruled that seven had indeed been willing to have sex with Lee; the other nine were drunk and subsequently raped against their will.
The court reviewed both the medical evidence and videos provided, and went on to reject the prosecutors' claim that Lee "drugged" the women. The prosecutors asked the court to issue a prison sentence of 266 years and six months due to the lack of remorse on Lee's part and the fallacy of the so-called "night club culture." The judge did not budge..
Besides the sentence, 12 victims in the case who had filed for compensation were awarded by the court with 300,000 Taiwan dollars to 2.5 million each. Lee will have to pay out 14.25 million Taiwan dollars in total.
The lawyers for Justin Lee said they would appeal for a "not guilty" ruling.
The Taipei district attorneys (DA), on the other hand, have said they will also appeal for a heavier sentence. They pointed out that Lee was using his father's social status, money and nightclub connections to lure girls and set them up, creating a whole new kind of "dignitary crime." The DAs said the court should not try the case in the traditional way and ignore the victims' psychological pain and damage. They consider the sentence too light to constitute real justice.
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