TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The high court yesterday sentenced a former legislator to six months in prison after convicting him of raping a Filipino woman he had employed as a domestic helper. But Elmer Fung, a former legislator from the ruling Kuomintang (KMT), maintained his innocence, vowing to appeal.

Fung was convicted of raping the woman on Jan. 23, 2004, while they were alone at the former legislator's home on the second day of Chinese New Year, according to the Taiwan High Court verdict. After the rape, Fung and the woman agreed a settlement, and the victim was sent home after receiving NT$800,000 in compensation.

The Taipei District Court and the high court originally gave Fung four years in prison after convicting him of the rape charge.

Fung appealed to the Supreme Court, which subsequently ordered a retrial by the high court on the grounds that further investigation needed to be conducted to determine how the ex-lawmaker's semen had come to be found on the victim's underpants.

Fung claims that the woman collected his semen from condoms he had disposed of after having sex with his wife.

The high court, in its latest ruling, said Fung could not prove that the woman put the semen on her underpants.

But the court sentenced him to one year in prison, which was commuted to six months according to a clemency law adopted in 2007. The sentence can be converted to a fine. Fung said the lighter sentence only gave him back '70 percent' of his innocence, which he said is not enough.

He said he will continue to appeal until he is completely vindicated.

He said the Filipino woman made up the charges after having a quarrel with his wife.

He described the charges as a case of fraud and extortion.