The Judicial Yuan Disciplinary Court on Friday handed down a harsher sentence to former Presidential Office spokesperson Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭) for his involvement in a sex scandal.
Ting will be banned from taking up any civil service positions for three years instead of the two years initially ruled in March 2021.
The harsher punishment was handed down after a recent appeal by the Control Yuan, which argued that Ting had been disciplined only for misconduct without taking into account sexual harassment.
The court, which governs the discipline of civil servants throughout the country, on Friday said the ruling was final.
Ting has not held any official position since resigning as Presidential Office spokesman in September 2020.
He came under fire after local media reported that Ting, who was married at the same, had sexual intercourse in his office during work hours with a journalist identified only as “Y” when he was director-general of Kaohsiung City’s Information Bureau.
The Control Yuan later investigated Ting and he was impeached by a unanimous 11-0 vote on Jan. 15, 2021.
According to the court, Ting had sexual intercourse with “Y” three times in his office during their two-year relationship from 2014-2016 and “Y” had two abortions. After the two broke up, Ting still posted pictures of them together in his Facebook page in 2017 in an effort to win her back.
Ting’s conduct was “debauched” and “imprudent” and “seriously marred the reputation of the government and the image of civil servants,” the court said at the time.
On Friday, the court said Ting was guilty of sexual harassment punishment because the photos that he posted offended “Y” even though they had already split up.
After the verdict was announced, Ting said he does not accept the part about sexual harassment and complained the three-year ban is too heavy.
In a Facebook post, the former official said he plans to appeal the case to the constitutional court, as investigators neglected to take into account the fact that “Y” agreed to allow him to make their relationship public.
“I will never accept allegations of sexual harassment,” he wrote, while admitting to engaging in inappropriate activities in the workplace.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel