Taiwanese YouTuber Gino Jinyou (real name: Zhuang Kaibo, 莊開博)’s career came crashing down last year. The internet celebrity had been accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague. Gino was then sentenced to four years and ten months in jail.
Shortly after the sentencing, several of Gino’s victims came forth to share their story. This included YouTuber and cosplayer April Tong who needed closure from Gino’s vile actions. However, Gino refused to accept the sentencing and attempted to appeal it. The court decided on his appeal yesterday (24th May).
According to the court, the case they were reviewing took place in May 2020. At that time, Gino had been drinking with several colleagues in a studio in New Taipei City. Around 3am, Gino had apparently visited a female colleague’s room. He knocked on the door and then attempted to touch her chest and lower body. His colleague had reportedly tried to resist his advances. However, she was smaller than him and had less strength. Gino then dragged her to the kitchen, stripped her of her clothes and sexually assaulted her on the kitchen counter.
After the assault, she attempted to resolve the matter quietly, taking into consideration that they were both public figures. According to the lady, she had merely wanted Gino to apologise for the initial assault, assuming he had been under the influence when he did so. However, when she met him again in private on 18th May, she had not been prepared for him to take advantage of her again.
Gino took her to the kitchen again and had his way with her. According to the lady, the kitchen was normally empty and lacking utensils. As such, she could only push at Gino and tell him “No“. To her horror, Gino had actually said, “I can’t help it, I can’t help but think about having sex when I see you.” Immediately afterwards, the lady told their boss, and filed a police report.
During the trial, Gino had claimed that it had been consensual. However, witnesses alleged that the two had hardly interacted. The judge then found him guilty on two counts of forced intercourse and sentenced him to four years and ten months of jail.
Gino had attempted to appeal the sentence. He staunchly insisted that the two had consensual sex. However, it was rejected by the judge. The High Court of Taiwan dismissed his appeal yesterday (24th May) and maintained the sentence. However, it reportedly can still be appealed.
Gino’s defunct YouTube channel used to have 170,000 subscribers. But it has not been updated since the allegations broke out. It’s doubtful that Gino will ever truly regain his status online.
