Supreme Court upholds sentence for ex-Air Force officer guilty of rape

Taipei, Jan. 21 (CNA) The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a three-year-and-eight-month jail sentence handed down to a former Air Force officer convicted of raping a female colleague in a case dating back to 2018.

According to court documents, the case involved a former Hualien Air Base staff sergeant surnamed Chen (陳).

Chen appealed the case after the Hualien branch of the Taiwan High Court in July 2020 upheld an earlier ruling by a lower court that found him guilty of raping the woman, who was the plaintiff in the case.

The victim, a subordinate of Chen, was attacked while on guard duty at the air base in July 2018, the same month authorities recovered the flight data recorder of a F-16 fighter jet that crashed on Wufen Mountain in New Taipei's Rueifang District a month earlier.

According to court documents, the married staff sergeant used this discovery as a pretext to lure the victim to the base's flight control office to drink and celebrate, subsequently raping her.

However, Chen claimed the sex was consensual and that the woman did not resist.

Based on the evidence collected and testimonies from several Hualien Air Base staff, the court said the victim is a lesbian and had never had a boyfriend.

According to authorities, she was afraid to resist her superior for fear of being punished for drinking alcohol while on duty.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court turned down Chen's appeal and said the ruling was final and cannot be appealed.