Already Serving Time, JMS Leader Jung Myung-seok Gets Another 33 Years for Sex Crimes Against 16 More Women

Jung Myung-seok, the leader of the Providence religious group (commonly known as JMS), who was put on trial for habitually sexually assaulting female followers, has been sentenced to an additional 33 years in prison.

Jung is already serving a 17-year prison sentence handed down by an appellate court in 2024 for committing sex crimes against three female followers.

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

If the 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.

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

However, the court did not accept these arguments.

The court ruled that Jung, who held an absolute position as a cult leader, repeatedly committed sex crimes against victims who were in a state of incapacity to resist by exploiting his religious control structure and influence.

In particular, the court explained its sentencing reasoning, stating that because there were more victims and a higher number of crimes than in the previous case, a more severe punishment was inevitable.

[Jung Young-sun / Attorney for the Victims: This has become a precedent where the court meticulously judged the process of how religion brainwashes people and how, as a result, people reach a state where they cannot make sound, normal decisions....]

An organization that has continuously exposed the reality of JMS pointed out that there are still many undisclosed victims and urged them to come forward with courage, while demanding a sincere apology from Jung.

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

Sexual Assault of 16 Female Followers... If Finalized, "Must Serve Past Age 120 to Be Released" (Morning Wide, October 20, 2026)

(Reported by Park Bum-shik from TJB, Produced by Yoon Sung-shik, Video by Yoon Sang-hoon from TJB, Design by Kang Ji-hyun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.