A South Korean appeals court on Sunday has upheld a prison sentence of three years and six months against a university professor convicted of raping a teenage student.

The Seoul High Court sentenced the 55-year-old professor, only identified by his surname Shin, to three years and six months in jail on charges of rape, upholding an earlier lower court ruling.

Shin, who taught mixed marital arts at university, was indicted for taking a 19-year-old female student to a hotel after getting her drunk at dinner and raping her there in January 2014.

Shin denied the charge, claiming that he did not have sex with the teenager.

He said he had intended to take the drunken girl to a hotel to sleep, but ended up staying longer to brush her teeth as she started to vomit. He then fell asleep on the floor at the hotel room, he said.

But the lower court sentenced him to a 3 1/2-year prison term, and said that he did not show any willingness to repent for his wrongdoing and continued to make excuses despite his social status as a teacher.

Challenging the ruling, Shin filed an appeal, arguing that he was not able to feel sexual desire as he was taking medicine to treat prostatic hypertrophy and hair loss. The treatment came after he was diagnosed with erectile dysfunction, he said.

But the upper court rejected his appeals, saying that the teenage victim made consistent statements about the circumstances under which she woke up due to Shin’s attempt to rape her. The court also added in the ruling that his medical situation did not prove it was impossible for him to have sex.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)