Taiwan playboy gets longer jail term
PUBLISHED ONSeptember 03, 2014 12:42 AM
Socialite Justin Lee, who sexually assaulted scores of women and filmed the acts, was sentenced to over 79 years in prison by Taiwan's High Court but will serve 30.
This was after an unsuccessful appeal by Lee, who was handed a 22-year jail sentence last year, Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.
Lee, 29, is the son of one of Taiwan's richest men, Lee Yueh-tsang, a businessman who made billions from investing in the stock market.
The younger Lee studied business administration at the University of Northern Virginia and was reportedly getting NT$600,000 (S$25,000) a month in pocket money from his father.
The court yesterday handed Lee a jail term of 79 years and seven months for his acts. But since the maximum sentence under the law is 30 years, Lee need only serve that many years behind bars, the South China Morning Post said. He also has to pay up NT$27.75 million.
Last September, Lee was sentenced to 18 years and six months in jail by the Taipei district court on nine counts of assault, AFP said. He was sentenced to another three years and 10 months for making sex videos without the women's consent and invading their privacy.
He used alcohol to lure his prey, before taking the women to his apartment and forcing himself on them, The Straits Times reported.
At least two of the 34 women Lee allegedly raped or filmed secretly remained silent about their ordeals for fear of tarnishing their reputation, according to last year's verdict.
Top model Maggie Wu, who dated Lee briefly in 2008, was one of the women he secretly filmed in bed.
Lee, who has been detained since his 2012 arrest, appeared to choke when the verdict was read, said the South China Morning Post. His parents plan to appeal.
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