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Imran Ahmad Khan arrives at Southwark Crown Court, south London: the court sentences him to 18 years in prison
Photo: Stefan Rousseau / dpa
Former Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The court found the 48-year-old Khan guilty in April of sexually abusing a minor.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's conservative Tories had therefore expelled Khan from the party, and he himself had resigned his mandate before the verdict.
The judge at a south London court saw no sign of remorse from Khan.
"They only feel sorry for themselves because they are now facing the consequences of what they did 14 years ago," he said.
According to the indictment, at a celebration in January 2008, Khan gave a then 15-year-old girl gin to drink, asked him to watch pornographic content with him and then touched him on various parts of his body.
Khan's defenders want to appeal
Khan's defense attorney still believes his client is innocent and has announced that he will appeal the verdict.
The police took up the allegations against Khan shortly after the alleged time of the crime, but the victim did not want to file a complaint at the time.
However, during the trial he said his memories caught up with him again when he learned that Khan was running for the general election in 2019.
Khan then won his MP in the northern English town of Wakefield.
The left-leaning Labor Party had previously dominated there for decades.
The June 23 by-election will show whether the Tories can defend the numerous seats they won in traditional Labor strongholds three years ago.
The Sunday Times recently reported that there are currently allegations of sexual misconduct against 56 of the 650 MPs in the British House of Commons.
An unnamed MP, like Khan also a member of the Tories, was arrested a few days ago on a rape allegation and later released on bail.
ani/AFP