Vietnamese entertainer Hong Minh Quang, popularly known as Minh Beo, has been sentenced to 18 months in Californian prison for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy.

The entertainer has been held in prison on US$1 million dollars bail since March.

In August, he pleaded guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old boy in California who he met while holding an audition for a video project.

The boy told police about the assault, and Minh was later arrested after a police posed as a 13-year-old boy.

Last week, an Orange County court sentenced Minh to 18 months in a state prison and ordered the 38-year-old to register as a lifetime sex offender.

Minh Beo, which means Fatty Minh, is renowned for his stage, TV and movie comic roles and has his own theater in Ho Chi Minh City.

– TiVi Tuan-san