The technician, Sze Ho-chun, had faced up to three years' imprisonment after being accused of stealing the photos showing actor-singer Edison Chen performing sex acts with eight Hong Kong actresses and singers.

The photos appeared on the Internet last year, forcing Chen and the women to take a break from their careers.

Sze, 24, was found guilty last month on three charges related to accessing Chen's computer.

He was denied bail and detained after being sentenced Wednesday by a Hong Kong court to eight months and 15 days in jail, according to his attorney, Kelvin Lai. He plans to appeal the conviction.

Prosecutors said Sze copied the photos from Chen's laptop and gave other customers copies of the pictures on a compact disc.

Chen, a Chinese-Canadian, testified against the technician and identified several of the women featured in the photos at a deposition in Vancouver, Canada, in February.

None of the female celebrities _ including singer Gillian Chung and actress Cecilia Cheung _ appeared during the 10-day trial.

Chen publicly apologized for the scandal in February 2008. He and other stars featured in the photos have only recently started to reappear in public.

Chen appeared in the 2002 hit Hong Kong police thriller "Infernal Affairs," which Martin Scorsese remade as "The Departed," and in the 2006 horror movie "The Grudge 2" alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar. He also had a cameo in the Hollywood blockbuster "The Dark Knight," released last year.