AN actor best known for his role in the hit 1997 film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery has been sentenced to life in prison on charges stemming from the 1990 gang rape and torture of a woman.

Joseph Hyungmin Son was found guilty on August 25 of felony torture, which carries a maximum penalty of life without parole, the Los Angeles Times reported.

He had originally been charged with numerous sex crimes but because of the statute of limitations on such crimes, prosecutors instead pursued charges of torture.

The 40-year-old actor, who was also known in the field of mixed martial arts as Joe Son, played Doctor Evil's henchman Random Task in the Austin Powers movie.

Prosecutors said just after midnight on December 24, 1990, Son and an accomplice approached a woman who was walking her dog in Huntington Beach, California.



The two men asked the woman for directions and then abducted her,the Times reported.

The pair sexually assaulted the victim and threatened to kill her, counting out bullets as she pleaded for her life. She was eventually released naked, with her pants tied around her eyes.

While physical evidence was gathered in the case from the sexual assault, the case went cold.



Son was arrested on charges of vandalism 17 years later and required to give a DNA sample. That was when his DNA was linked to the crime, the Times reported.

The victim, who was not identified, told the judge: "My emotional scars are intense. My 20s were stripped from my life as I relearned how to walk, see, hear and cope with the outside world again."

Son's co-accused was sentenced to more 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping, rape and other charges.

Read more about Austin Powers actor gets life for torture at the Los Angeles Times.

