SEOUL, South Korea (AP). A former mayor of South Korea's second-largest municipality was sentenced Tuesday to a three year term for sexually abusing two city employees.Oh Keo-don's lawyers didn't respond to calls or text messages asking if they planned to appeal. Busans district court ordered Oh to get counseling and prohibited him from working in child welfare facilities and disability facilities for five more years after his release.Oh was a close ally of President Moon Jae In, born in Busan. He resigned as mayor of the city in April 2020 after admitting that he had inappropriate physical contact with a female civil servant, who claimed he groped her in his office. According to her lawyers, the unidentified woman claimed Oh's behavior led to post-traumatic stress disorder.Later, Oh was separately charged with having unwelcome sexual contact in 2018 with another female city worker.Ohs lawyers argued that it was not clear that his actions were responsible for the woman's PTSD. They asked for leniency and said that Oh, 72, had made positive contributions to society. Oh was also dealing with cognitive impairment-related health issues.These claims were rejected by the court, who ruled that Oh had clearly abused his status and harassed the women. His actions weren't accidental or unrelated.The court stated in a statement that even based on the materials provided by the defendant, it is difficult to believe that defendant suffers from a cognitive impairment that would have affected his actions during the commission of the crimes.Moons Democratic Party was rocked by allegations of sexual misconduct against some of its top politicians.Ahn Hee-jung is currently behind bars for raping his ex-secretary, former Chungcheong Province Governor. Ahn Hee jung was once considered a presidential hopeful. Park Won-soon was the former mayor of Seoul. A female employee had accused him of sexual harassment and he was later found dead.The Moons Liberal Party lost the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections to the conservative opposition candidates in April. This was a significant setback that analysts believe could set the stage for a unpredictable presidential vote next March.
