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Taiwanese playboy Justin Lee handed 80-year prison term for rape

High Court slaps wealthy scion with harshest sentence in years for sexually assaulting and taping 20 women

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Justin Lee (right) is escorted to a court in Taipei for his verdict last year. He has been found guilty of rape by previous courts. Photo: CNA

In a rare decision, Taiwan’s High Court on Tuesday sentenced socialite Justin Lee, heir to one of the island’s richest men, to 79 years and seven months in prison for raping and illegally making sex tapes of 20 women.

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The court meted out the harshest punishment for such crimes in recent years based on the number of counts of sexual assault and filming without consent.

However, Lee, the son of former Yuanta Financial Holding board member Lee Yue-chang, only needs to serve 30 years behind bars as it is the maximum punishment for these charges by law, court officials said.

”The defendant was found guilty of multiple sexual assaults and filming sex tapes without consent from others,” the high court said in a verdict.

”The defendant must compensate a total of NT$27.75 million (HK$7.2 million) to the victims,” it said.

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A dejected and grim-faced Lee, 29, who has been detained since he was arrested in August 2012, appeared to choke when he heard the decision, local television reports said.

The ruling came as a shock to Lee’s family as it dwarfed the Taipei district court’s decision last September to hand him an 18-year, six-month term.

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