JMS leader sentenced to 17 years

[Anchor]

In Mar. 2022, a Hong Kong national woman held a press conference to reveal her experience of sexual assault.

The perpetrator was Jeong Myeong-seok, the president of the Christian Gospel Mission, JMS.

The following year, a documentary exposing Jeong's habitual sexual assaults on female believers was released, causing great outrage.

Ultimately, Jeong was indicted by the prosecution, but he denied the charges, claiming that the female believers were not in a brainwashed state, and even filed lawsuits against the victims.

It has been three years since the trial began.

Today (1.9), the Supreme Court confirmed the original sentence of 17 years in prison for Jeong.

Reporter Gong Min-kyung reports.

[Report]

Jeong Myeong-seok, the president of the Christian Gospel Mission, JMS, was regarded as a savior by his followers.

The prosecution reported that Jeong used this religious authority to sexually assault or rape three female believers over a period of approximately 3 years and 7 months starting in 2018.

The first trial court sentenced him to 23 years in prison, and the second trial also recognized his guilt, but did not accept the recording files from the crime scene as evidence, reducing the sentence to 17 years.

Jeong has claimed his innocence, arguing that he preached he was not a god but human and that the victims were not in a brainwashed or incapacitated state, but this was not accepted by the court.

The Supreme Court's judgment was the same.

The Supreme Court dismissed Jeong's appeal and upheld the original sentence of 17 years in prison, along with the order for 15 years of electronic monitoring.

The original court found that "the victims believed that Jeong's actions were religiously necessary or were in a state of mental confusion," determining that they were in a psychologically incapacitated state, which the Supreme Court also recognized.

The victims, who have endured a long legal battle, welcomed the Supreme Court's decision.

[Maple/Victim Believer: "Finally, we have an answer. It shows that true justice exists. I can confidently say that no more victims will come forward in the future."

Jeong is also facing additional charges for committing sexual violence against another 10 female believers and is currently undergoing trial.

This is KBS News, Gong Min-kyung.