A former governor of Chungcheongnam-do Province was found guilty of sex abuse by the Seoul High Court this afternoon.
The court also sentenced An Hee-jung to serve 3 years and 6 months behind bars and took him into custody immediately after the ruling.
In April last year, the prominent politician was indicted on charges of sexually assaulting his former secretary multiple times over a period of nearly 8 months.
The secretary's testimony was initially dismissed and he was acquitted of charges, before the high court overturned the earlier ruling.
An was one of the main candidates for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2017.