Ex-NCT member Taeil sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for sexual assault

Former NCT member Taeil has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for sexual assault.

According to reports on Yonhap News Agency and Soompi, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 26 found Taeil and two other defendants, identified simply as Mr. Lee and Mr. Hong, guilty for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (Aggravated Quasi-Rape).

The court also ordered them to complete 40 hours of sexual violence education.

“The defendants admitted to the crime, and based on the evidence, they are found guilty. The victim was in a state of helplessness due to intoxication, and the crime was committed at Mr. Lee’s residence,” the court stated.

It added that the victim, a foreign tourist, has been suffering from "significant psychological trauma."

In June, prosecutors sought a seven-year prison term for Taeil and his co-defendants. His legal team appealed for leniency as he submitted a written confession to the authorities. The appeal however, was rejected.

In March, Taeil was charged without detention for allegedly sexually assaulting an intoxicated foreign woman with his friends in June 2024. 

Taeil left NCT in August 2024 amid the police investigation of the sexual assault allegations. In October 2024, SM Entertainment announced that they have terminated Taeil's exclusive contract. —Jade Veronique Yap/JCB, GMA Integrated News