AN ACTOR WHO starred in the first of the Austin Powers spy spoofs has been convicted of torturing and raping a 20-year-old woman in California in 1990.

The woman was walking her dog on a beach on Christmas Eve when she was attacked by two men.

Joseph Hyungmin Son, 40, was arrested in 2008 after he gave a DNA sample to US authorities following a parole violation for an unrelated vandalism charge, the Orange County Register reported in 2008.

Son played Dr Evil’s sidekick Random Task in the 1997 film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery:

The young woman was walking along the beach and looking at Christmas lights when she was approached by a man who claimed he was lost. He and a second man then dragged her into a car, where she was threatened with a gun and raped.

Son’s co-accused has been sentenced to over 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping, rape and other charges, according to KTLA.com.

Son is due to be sentenced on 19 September. Although he earlier faced a maximum of 275 years in prison, the statute of limitations has expired on some of the original charges and he now faces 15 years to life imprisonment.