A man involved in the Alibaba female employee sexual assault case in July 2021 was sentenced 18 months into prison for committing the crime of “forcible indecency,” a court in Jinan in East China’s Shandong Province ruled on Wednesday.

The defendant Zhang Guo, was found guilty of forcible indecency against a female employee surnamed Zhou of Alibaba Group during a business dinner in July, 2021 while Zhou was under the influence of alcohol, Jinan Huaiyin District People's Court said. 

Zhang was found to have committed sexual assault against Zhou during their first meeting on July 27, 2021 at a restaurant and again the next day in Zhou’s hotel room.

The court said that the defendant Zhang Guo was guilty of forcible indecency, sexual assaulting the victim against her will while she was drunk.

Zhang was among the eight people attending the business dinner. 

Xinhua News Agency reported earlier that on July 27, four employees from Alibaba group including Zhou and another male colleague, Wang Chengwen, went on a business trip to Jinan for negotiations and signing a contract with Jinan Hualian supermarket. That night, the four colleagues from Alibaba had a business dinner with four representatives from the Hualian supermarket, including Zhang Guo.

The Alibaba sexual assault case topped search trends on Chinese social media Sina Weibo on Wednesday. 

According to earlier media reports Zhou complained that she reported the issue to Alibaba but "received no response.” 

Alibaba told the Global Times in an earlier statement last year that the company will not tolerate any illegal behavior and will fully cooperate with local police, in responding to the sexual assault scandal.