A sparkling idol turned sex offender... Taeil (formerly of NCT) received a prison sentence without probation for “gang assaulting foreign tourists.”

Taeil, who debuted as a member of the popular Korean boy band NCT and was loved by many fans, was sentenced to prison in the first trial and detained in court.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Taeil, who was indicted on suspicion of violating the Special Act on Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes (special quasi-rape), to three years and six months in prison and detained him in court. Taeil's friends and co-defendants, Mr. Lee and Mr. Hong, were also each sentenced to three years and six months in prison and detained in court. The court also ordered them to complete a 40-hour sexual violence treatment program.

　Last June, Taeil and his accomplices took a Chinese tourist who was drunk at a bar in Itaewon, Seoul, to Taeil's home in Seoul and sexually assaulted her. In August of last year, two months into the investigation, the police identified them and attempted to search their homes, but they immediately turned themselves in and were indicted while under house arrest.

　The court stated, “The defendants took advantage of the victim's intoxicated state, rendering her unable to resist, and raped her in succession, which is a very serious offense.” It also criticized, “The victim was a foreign tourist who suffered significant mental anguish after being victimized in an unfamiliar place.”

　However, the court explained that it had taken into consideration the fact that all defendants were first-time offenders who had confessed to the crime, as well as the victim's request not to seek punishment.

Earlier, the prosecution had sought a seven-year prison sentence for Taeil.