Elmer Fung Hu-hsiang, 69, a former lawmaker in Taiwan released on medical parole in January shortly after serving three months of a three-year-and-four-month jail term for raping a Filipina maid at his home in 2004, lost his appeal in the Supreme Court on Saturday.
The Taiwan Supreme Court confirmed the decision by the High Court on October 7, 2016, as the final verdict. That meant Fung had lost his appeal and was guilty of forced sexual intercourse with his Filipina domestic worker, the China Daily News reported.
The court previously heard that at 4:40pm on January 23, 2004, Fung and the Filipina domestic worker were home alone in the Shilin district in New Taipei City. The former lawmaker entered the maid’s room and fully pressed on her body for sexual intercourse, despite the fact the Filipina was crying and expressed extreme reluctance, The Liberty Times reported.
On the same day at 6pm, the maid escaped from the house and sought help from two other domestic workers. The victim was then taken by a staff member from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office to a hospital for an examination. That lead to confirmation that body fluid from the defendant was found inside the victim.
Later, Fung’s wife got the maid to agree to a civil settlement, with the victim receiving compensation of NT$800,000 (US$26,287) and being sent back to the Philippines.
Despite the civil settlement between Fung and the victim, forced sexual intercourse is a criminal act and the lawmaker still faced charges by the Taiwan government.
Fung argued that he faced a political prosecution and the maid had set him up by tainting her underpants with his body fluid.
But on October 7, 2016, a jury in the Taiwan High Court rejected this and Fung was given a three-year-and-four-month jail term in Taipei Prison from October 26 that year.
On January 18, Fung was released on medical parole, having served less than three months of his term.
Under Taiwanese law, offenders guilty of forced sexual intercourse must be jailed for no less than three years but not more than 10 years.
Why was his bodily fluids so readily availble for other people’s use?