Socialite sex offender gets 18 years

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 found that Lee guilty on 9 counts of non-consensual sex and 15 counts of privacy violation for filming himself having sex with multiple women including celebrities. 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.

The 28-year-old playboy was found not guilty by the panel of judges at the Taipei District Court on the count of aggravated rape, due to a lack of evidence.

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.

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 judges did not budge.

Besides the sentence, 12 victims in the case, who had sued him for a total of $75 million Taiwan dollars in damages, were awarded by the court with 300,000 to 2.5 million Taiwan dollars each. Lee was ordered 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.

Maggie Wu, Taiwan's famous actress and model, also fell victim to Lee's actions. As the sex video of her and Lee was leaked online, her career was put on hold for almost one year. When her agent heard of yesterday's verdict, she sighed, "I don't know what to say," but added that Wu has long since moved on.

Lee's former girlfriend, and victim, Cora also gave her opinion on the matter, "I can't understand why he only got some 20 years. He should be sentenced to 200 years in jail. I will continue to sue him."

In early August of 2012, under warrant, police searched Lee's apartment and found discs as well as nude photos and videos of many Taiwanese showbiz figures, models and A-list actresses on his personal computer. Lee ran, but eventually had to surrender.

Some of the photos and videos in Lee's collection were leaked onto the Internet only days later, rocking the Taiwan showbiz industry. Several female stars released statements denying any involvement with Lee, while others suffered emotional breakdowns. Lee's father resigned as board chairman of Yuanta Financial Holdings on August 14, 2012, to avoid any further tarnishing of the company's image.