Austin Powers actor sentenced to life in prison

"Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" henchman Joseph Hyuangmin Son has been sentenced to life in prison for his part in the gang rape of a woman on Christmas Eve 1990.

Son, who played Random Task in the Austin Powers film, was convicted last month and sentenced last Friday.

The female victim was attacked and abducted by Son and an accomplice in Huntington Beach, California. Son raped the woman, sexually assaulted her with a gun and then released her naked.

DNA evidence did not link the actor to the attack until 2008.

"My emotional scars are intense," read a statement from the anonymous victim to the court, obtained by TMZ.com.

"My twenties were stripped from my life as I relearned how to walk, see, hear and cope with the outside world again.

"Joseph Son not only cost me my job at my salon but also my college savings ... not to mention the impact it's made on celebrating Christmas year after year."

(Published by NZ Herald - September 14, 2011)