TAEIL
TAEIL, a former member of the Kpop boy group NCT, has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison on charges of sexual assault.
On Friday, the Supreme Court confirmed the first-instance ruling by rejecting the appeal filed by TAEIL and his two acquaintances, surnamed LEE and HONG, who had been indicted for aggravated quasi-rape under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes.
Aggravated quasi-rape refers to a sexual assault committed by two or more people, or by an armed individual, against a victim who is incapable of resisting, including cases where the victim is unconscious.
The three men were also sentenced to complete 40 hours of sexual violence treatment and were banned from working at institutions related to children, adolescents, or people with disabilities for the next five years.
TAEIL and his accomplices are accused of sexually assaulting a foreign woman who was intoxicated in June of last year. TAEIL was initially questioned by police in June and underwent his first formal interrogation in August.
TAEIL debuted with NCT in 2016 and was active in the sub-units NCT U and NCT 127. SM ENTERTAINMENT terminated his exclusive contract in October 2024 following the allegations, stating “given the seriousness of the case, the continuation of group activities is no longer possible”.
In July, a district court sentenced TAEIL, LEE, and HONG to three years and six months in prison, citing the severity of the crime. The court ruled that the perpetrators took advantage of the victim’s intoxicated state and inability to defend herself to commit successive sexual assaults.
The defendants were taken into custody immediately.
The court emphasized that the victim, a foreign tourist in an unfamiliar place, likely suffered significant psychological trauma.
In October, the appellate court upheld the first-instance ruling by dismissing the defendants’ appeal. TAEIL and his associates then filed a final appeal with the Supreme Court, which was rejected on procedural grounds, thereby confirming the prison sentence.
Journalist: Shawn
Translator: Shawn
Source: Korean Media
