A Chinese language court docket on Friday sentenced Chinese language-Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in jail on expenses together with rape.
Beijing's Chaoyang District Courtroom stated Wu was given 11 years and 6 months for a 2020 rape, and 1 12 months and 10 months for the "crime of assembling a crowd to interact in sexual promiscuity" in a 2018 occasion through which he and others allegedly assaulted two girls they'd gotten drunk.
The court docket stated the three victims within the rape case had additionally been drunk and had been unable to consent.
It stated a mixed 13-year sentence was agreed on and Wu could be instantly deported after serving his time.
"In line with the details … the character, circumstances and dangerous penalties of the crime, the court docket made the above judgment," the court docket stated in an internet assertion.
A Canadian diplomat was in court docket to listen to the sentencing, it stated.
Wu was additionally slapped with a superb of 600 million yuan ($83.7 million) for evading taxes by massively underreporting his earnings from performances, commercials and different sources of revenue.
Wu "used a pretend enterprise to transform the character of his revenue and falsely declare it, and evaded 95 million yuan of tax by concealing private revenue by means of a number of home and abroad affiliated corporations," state information company Xinhua reported.
The June trial of the 32-year-old former member of the South Korean group EXO was closed to the general public to guard the victims' privateness.
Wu has been detained since August 2021 whereas police performed an investigation in response to feedback on-line that he "repeatedly lured younger girls" to have intercourse, in response to a police assertion at the moment.
That 12 months, a teen accused him of getting intercourse together with her whereas she was drunk. Wu, identified in Chinese language as Wu Yifan, denied the accusation.
The teenager then stated seven different girls contacted her to say Wu seduced them with guarantees of jobs and different alternatives. She stated some had been underneath 18.
Rape is punishable by three to 10 years in jail, though distinctive circumstances may end up in harsher sentences as much as dying. The second cost Wu confronted is punishable by as much as 5 years in jail.
Wu grew up in Guangzhou in China and in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Wu was beforehand one in every of China's most bankable stars, however manufacturers together with Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, L'Oreal Males and Porsche suspended their partnerships with him over the case.
And extra victims spoke out on-line within the wake of the preliminary claims, accusing Wu's employees of predatory habits together with inviting them to boozy karaoke events.
The hashtags "ladies assist ladies", "ladies serving to ladies" and "ladies assist ladies time" -- the place girls expressed solidarity with Du -- had been censored from Chinese language social media within the wake of the scandal.
The Weibo trending hashtag "the legislation is the bottom customary of morals" additionally racked up 830 million views, as customers complained concerning the excessive authorized threshold required for victims to show sexual assault in court docket.
China's #MeToo motion
The saga round Wu evoked China's embattled #MeToo motion, which noticed a wave of girls come ahead in 2018 voicing experiences of sexual harassment -- typically involving highly effective public figures.
Beijing moved decisively to suppress the feminist motion, arresting dozens of pupil activists in a present of its zero-tolerance strategy to these deemed potential threats to its management.
A landmark case introduced by screenwriter Zhou Xiaoxuan in opposition to high-profile TV presenter Zhu Jun was dismissed final 12 months, with a Beijing court docket additionally throwing out an attraction this August.
And whereas tennis star Peng Shuai's allegations of sexual assault in opposition to a senior Communist Occasion politician sparked a world outcry final 12 months, her claims had been swiftly censored inside China.
Peng later denied making the accusation.
Wu's case was on the heart of a sweeping authorities crackdown on celeb tradition that took maintain final summer time.
Across the similar time as his arrest, prime actress Zheng Shuang was hit with a $46 million tax evasion superb whereas references to movie star Zhao Wei had been wiped from video streaming websites.
Authorities stated they had been focusing on unhealthy values and "irregular aesthetics", ordering broadcasters to chop actuality expertise exhibits and cease giving airtime to "sissy" males and "vulgar influencers".
Critics have argued that the strikes additionally aimed to boost the Communist Occasion's ideological management and curb exterior influences that would pose a menace to its rule.
AFP contributed to this report.