A Hong Kong court on Wednesday found J-pop artist Kenshin Kamimura guilty of indecent assault after he harassed a woman working as his interpreter at a restaurant earlier this year.
Kamimura, 26, is a former member of the boy band ONE N’ONLY, which expelled him shortly after the allegation.
Fans queued to get into court for hours before the hearing, and some broke down in tears upon learning Kamimura had been convicted.
The court heard Kamimura touched the woman’s thighs multiple times despite her objections, and invited her to go to the bathroom with him.
Magistrate Peter Yu found he had assaulted her, adding his behaviour “clearly shows disrespect for women”.
The incident took place in March during a celebratory dinner, after a fan meet for which the woman had been working as an interpreter for Kamimura and others.
The Japanese star was fined HK$15,000 ($1,900).
Kamimura, who is also known as an actor in the Japanese drama “Our Youth”, hugged his court translator upon hearing he would be fined without facing jail time, media reports said.
Kamimura got “what he deserved”, Yu said, adding that “had the victim not refused to remain silent and courageously come forward, she would have suffered an unpleasant experience in silence”.
But ardent fans inside and outside the court were in tears.
Chan, a 30-year-old screenwriter and fan who gave only her last name, said she had come from northern China to watch the court session.
She told AFP before the verdict that the trial has had a negative impact on Kamimura’s image, and had incited “public outbursts of vitriol against the artist”.
twa/reb/rsc
