Idol Guilty Of Sex Crime Involving Minor Admits To Reaching Out To His Victim After
In 2023, Taiwan’s #MeToo movement resulted in numerous stars getting exposed for sexual harassment and other crimes, including Fahrenheit member Aaron Yan.
In June 2023, a content creator named Yao Le accused the idol of grooming him, rape, and filming their sexual relations when they were in a relationship from 2017 to 2018. Raku was just 16 years old at the time, while the singer was 31.
At the time, I had just turned 16 and was living in Taipei by myself to study. You were my Prince Charming. I did whatever you said, because you were a celebrity, an idol, and my partner. You would never hurt me…
But I was proven wrong. I gave you my virginity, when I was 16.
You tried to film while we were having sex, but that was where I drew the line. I seriously refused, and you pinky swore on it.At that time, I thought this was something every couple goes through, and you were only teaching me…the scariest thing is that you secretly filmed with your phone when I wasn’t paying attention, leading to a leak of the video which ruined my entire life.
After a long while, right before Mid-Autumn festival in 2018, I’ll always remember getting tons of private messages while I was working in Beijing. Our sex video was circulating. I was so angry, so mad, so helpless…but you just downplayed it and said you didn’t know how it got leaked.
Even when the video got leaked, you told other people that if I revealed everything, you would get the gang to take care of me. I really didn’t know how to handle it. Chat logs and evidence support everything above… sigh.
— Yao Le
Yao Le publicized the allegations further during a press conference, where Yan appeared in person.
In 2024, Yan received a seven-month suspended prison sentence on after reaching a settlement with the victim in March. In the verdict, the court found enough evidence to determine that he had recorded sex tapes with a minor with the intention of distributing them. During the suspended sentence, Aaron Yan will not have to serve time in jail granted that he pays a daily fine of NT$1,500 (around $47 USD) and remain under supervision for three years.
The idol recently resumed his music career, and in the process has been interviewed.
During one such interview, he admitted to reaching out to Yao Le after the trial, and even claimed that his efforts to have the video removed contributed to his light sentencing. He also tried to explain the ending of their relationship, which began when Yao Le was 16 and Yan was 31.
To be honest, our lives are too different. He felt that I should let him know everything about the future. But to be honest, my work at that time made it impossible for me to take care of the details. Over time, we lost contact and separated. During that time, he had many thoughts and felt that I deliberately distanced myself and failed to keep my promises.
— Aaron Yan
Yan also shared that he contacted the headquarters of the distributor of the video to have it removed via legal means, and added that he still does not know how the video was spread.
