'Bad Breath Rapist' hangs his head in court as he is jailed after 17-year life of luxury in San Francisco mansion with oblivious girlfriend

A sadistic restauranteur dubbed the 'Bad Breath Rapist' has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after fleeing his trial and spending almost as long in hiding.

Tuen Kit Lee, 55, broke into his young subordinate's home, restrained her with zipties, and sexually abused her at knifepoint for hours on February 2, 2005.

He hid his face, but his 21-year-old victim recognized his 'putrid' breath from working together at his family's restaurant in Boston, where he was a manager.

Lee, a Chinese immigrant, got the distinctive odor from using traditional herbal medicines, and DNA evidence later confirmed her suspicions.

Just before he was to give evidence at his September 2007 trial, he went on the run until he was tracked to a mansion near San Francisco on May 28.

Tuen Kit Lee, 55, dubbed the 'Bad Breath Rapist' has been jailed for 20 years after fleeing his trial and spending almost as long in hiding

Just before he was to give evidence at his September 2007 trial (pictured during a 2005 hearing), Lee went on the run for almost 17 years

Lee was convicted by a jury in his absence and on Thursday jailed for 18 to 20 years by Judge Joseph Leighton in Norfolk Superior Court.

'I'm so sorry for everybody, I hope God forgive me for everything I did,' he said, hanging his head in shame.

Prosecutors called his crimes 'a prolonged, violent, and terrifying kidnapping and series of rapes'. 

His victim, a junior employee at the restaurant in the neighborhood of Quincy at the time, gave a haunting impact statement to the court.

'The impacts of the incident for me have been devastating, profound and far-reaching. They have impacted every area of my life and every part of myself,' she said.

'It left the permanent scar on my body and my soul, like a dark shadow follows me no matter where I go.

'I'm so sorry for everybody, I hope God forgive me for everything I did,' he said, hanging his head in shame

Police spotted him leaving with his girlfriend before getting into a car at 6.30am, and pulled the vehicle over on Diablo Road and detained Lee

'I should have spent my twenties laughing, studying and celebrating. Instead I spent in court rooms, testifying, waiting, dreading. 

'In the years since my trauma, I felt like I was constantly being followed by a dark shadow, reminding me of the horrors I went through. 

'After 19 years, I wasn't sure if this nightmare would ever end, each time I'm thinking back to the incident making me feel trapped, as if I never truly escaped at all.' 

Lee will undergo five years of supervised probation once his sentence is up, likely while wearing an ankle monitor, and register as a sex offender.

Prosecutors pushed for 28 to 30 years in prison, but his defense lawyer Philip Tracy, who also defended him at trial in 2007, wanted just eight to 10 years.

Tracy vowed to appeal the sentence, claiming Lee had extra years tacked on because he fled custody - which is not supposed to be done.

'He had been beaten in jail early on, attacked, bitten. So he was terrified of going back to jail. Human weakness,' Tracy said.

Lee was handcuffed and taken away by police officers in Diablo on May 28

Lee's trial recounted how he got inside the woman's apartment while her boyfriend was away, gagged her with duct tape, tied her up, and threw her in a spare room.

She was then repeatedly raped while he crudely covered his face using a wooly hat with eye holes cut in it.

After he escaped, Lee had been on the run for so long the case went cold, but he was finally traced after a Massachusetts State Police officer re-launched the investigation about two years ago. 

'He found one picture on social media that tied him (Lee) to California that we were able to start running with and eventually identify him,' US Marshals Senior Inspector Chris Tamayo told DailyMail.com.

Police discovered he was living a double life in a $4.3 million mansion in the small town of Diablo, about 20 miles east of the Bay Area.

His oblivious girlfriend of 15 years, who owned the mansion and knew him as 'Randy Lee', was shocked when police revealed he was a convicted rapist.

State police from Massachusetts and California traced Lee to the home this year and waited outside for him to emerge. 

Lee (pictured in his 2005 mugshot) broke into a co-worker's home and raped her on February 2, 2005

Lee, a Chinese immigrant, got the distinctive odor from using traditional herbal medicines, and DNA evidence later confirmed her suspicions 

They spotted him leaving with his girlfriend before getting into a car at 6.30am, and pulled the vehicle over on Diablo Road and detained Lee.

He initially insisted that his name was Randy, but eventually admitted who he was under pressure from officers, and fingerprints confirmed his real identity. 

His girlfriend was aghast when officers broke the news to her about who 'Randy' really was, Tamayo said. 

'She had absolutely no idea,' he told DailyMail.com. 'The woman he was with had absolutely no clue who he was.

'Her life got completely turned upside down. I definitely have sympathy for her situation. She couldn't believe it.'

Tamayo said the woman owned a flower shop in San Francisco, a 35 minute drive from their lavish pad, and Lee had been working in the shop with her. 

Lee was finally traced after a Massachusetts State Police officer re-launched the investigation about two years ago 

He said Lee had 'given up everything from his past life' to go on the run and 'created a new identity' to conceal his horrendous criminal history.

Tamayo added that his victim, who has been waiting for closure on the case for almost 20 years, felt 'a sense of relief' when cops told her he had finally been detained. 

'There are violent offenders out there who believe they can commit crimes and not be held accountable for their actions,' Chief Inspector Sean LoPiccolo, acting Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force commander, said in a statement. 

'Tuen Lee was on the run for more than 16 years and the unwavering dedication by law enforcement to locate and arrest him hopefully brings peace of mind to the victim and her family.'