China sentences Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years for rape

November 25, 2022 - 6:32 PM
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Kris Wu
Kris Wu performs at the iHeartRadio MuchMusic Video Awards (MMVA) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada August 26, 2018. (Reuters/Fred Thornhill/File Photo)

BEIJING — A Beijing court on Friday sentenced Chinese-born Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in jail after finding him guilty of crimes including rape.

The court in Beijing’s Chaoyang District said investigations showed that from November to December 2020, the man also known as Wu Yifan raped three women.

It also found him guilty of the crime of assembling a crowd to engage in sexual promiscuity in July 2018, the court’s official WeChat account said.

The court also said Wu would be deported, although lawyers in China have said deportations typically take place after a defendant serves their sentence.

Wu was detained in Beijing on July 31 of last year after an 18-year-old Chinese student publicly accused him of inducing her and other girls, some of them under age 18, to have sex with him.

RELATED: Police in China detain Canadian pop star Kris Wu over rape allegation

Officials from the Canadian embassy in Beijing attended the sentencing, according to state media.

The Canadian embassy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Reporting by Sophie Yu and Martin Pollard; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Tony Munroe