Jung Myung-seok, Leader of JMS Convicted of Sexually Assaulting 16 Female Followers, Sentenced to Additional 33 Years in Prison

[Anchor]

Jung Myung-seok, the leader of the anti-social religious group JMS who was put on trial for habitually sexually assaulting followers, has been sentenced to an additional 33 years in prison. The court imposed a sentence six years heavier than the prosecution's demand, citing an overwhelming need to punish the repetition of identical crimes.

This report is by Park Beom-shik from TJB.

[Reporter]

Jung Myung-seok, the leader of the Christian Gospel Mission, commonly known as JMS, has been sentenced to 33 years in prison on charges including the habitual sexual assault of female followers.

Jung is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence handed down in an appellate court in 2024 for sexually assaulting three female followers.

This time, he stood trial again after a little over a year following additional indictments on charges of committing 80 sex crimes against 16 other female followers.

If this sentence is finalized as is, Jung, who is 81 years old this year, will not be able to leave prison until he is well over 120 years old.

During the trial, Jung's legal team completely denied the charges, claiming that he never made physical contact with the female followers and that they were not in a state of psychological incapacity to resist.

However, the court rejected these arguments.

The court ruled that Jung, leveraging his absolute position as a religious leader and utilizing the religious power structure and influence, repeatedly committed sex crimes against victims who were unable to resist.

The court explained its sentencing reasoning by stating that even harsher punishment was inevitable, especially given that both the number of victims and the frequency of the crimes exceeded those in the previous case.

[Jung Young-sun / Attorney for the Victims: Because this has become a precedent where the court closely evaluated the process of how religion brainwashes individuals and how, as a result, people reach a state where they are incapable of making sound, normal decisions...]

An organization that has continuously exposed the reality of JMS urged victims who have yet to come forward to summon their courage, while also demanding a sincere apology from Jung.

[Kim Do-hyung / Professor of Mathematics at Dankook University (Anti-JMS Activist): I earnestly ask the victims who are still hiding to find the courage. I want to convey this message to Jung Myung-seok: admit to all the crimes you have committed, offer a sincere apology to the victims, and seek their forgiveness. That is the bare minimum duty of a human being...]

(Video by Yoon Sang-hoon / TJB, Design by Kang Ji-hyun)

Park Beom-shik, TJB
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.