Shocking True Identity of a Pastor Revered Like a Mother... Followers Speak Out After Escaping

In August, an 11-year-old boy named "Mideum" (a pseudonym) at a church in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, suffered from a high fever and altered consciousness before ultimately passing away.

Mideum's body bore signs of having his hands and feet tied along with multiple bruises, and his cause of death was determined to be multiple organ failure.

It was confirmed that before his death, Mideum sought help at a local restaurant and convenience store, but each time he was sent back to the church.

[Restaurant Staff: He had bruises under both eyes. He had bruises all over his body here and there, and his forearms were bruised...]

The police have sent the maternal grandmother, who left the boy at the church, and the head pastor, whom the boy called mom, to the prosecutors with detention on charges of child abuse resulting in death.

The grandmother initially took full responsibility upon herself, but as evidence emerged, she changed her statement, claiming that both the bindings and the orders for corporal punishment were at the pastor's direction.

[Mideum's Aunt: Most of the sermons were about things like that. "This week Mideum ran away and got a free meal somewhere," or "He was caught by the police and I brought him back." She would tell the young adults to take Mideum and give him a scolding, so they would take him outside... The child always said that "Grandmother administered the corporal punishment" no matter who actually did it, and the grandmother simply took the blame for everything because telling the truth would cause trouble for the church.]

During the reporting process for SBS's "Unwanteds (Unanswered Questions)", even more shocking testimonies followed.

Former followers who used to attend the church revealed that there had been habitual violence and exploitation targeting not only Mideum but also other followers in the past.

[Shin Soo-jung (pseudonym) / Former Follower: I still remember it. She would make a mother spread her legs and have an adult male kick her genitals dozens of times. She would grab a mother's tongue tip with a towel and strike the tongue dozens of times with a black fishing rod. To make sure she wouldn't talk about it anywhere else.]

Even so, there was a reason why the victims had not previously reported the pastor.

Another former follower added that "there was no boundary between the abuser and the victim," describing a structure that forced followers to assault and abuse one another.

Experts analyzed that Mideum appeared to have served as a "scapegoat" within the church, and that the followers were trapped in a strong psychological dependency relationship with the pastor.

A police official stated, "We are conducting investigations into additional book-in suspects besides the detained perpetrators," adding, "We are also reviewing the possibility of legal punishment from various angles regarding past circumstances of abuse."

(Producer: Lee Se-young | Video Editing: Jung Yong-hee | Footage Source: Unanswered Questions Episode 1305 | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.