SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- A former South Korean provincial governor was sentenced Friday to three and a half years in jail over his alleged sexual abuse of his former secretary.
The Seoul High Court overturned the acquittal of An Hee-jung, former governor of South Chungcheong province, by a lower court, finding An guilty of sexually molesting his former female secretary and abusing his authority.
Right after the ruling, An was put in prison. An, seen in the past as one of the powerful presidential hopefuls in the liberal bloc, was condemned by the high court to three and a half years in prison.
The 54-year-old was indicted in April last year for allegedly forcing his former secretary to make love with him using his authority multiple times from July 2017 to February 2018.
An claimed that he had consentual sexual relations with her. The lower court found An not guilty citing lack of evidence.
