JMS leader Jung Myung-seok sentenced to 33 years in prison for sexually assaulting female followers

Jung Myung-seok, 81, leader of the Christian Gospel Mission, also known as JMS, has received another heavy prison sentence on charges of sexually assaulting female followers.

The 11th Criminal Division of Daejeon District Court, presided over by Judge Park Woo-geun, sentenced Jung on Monday to 33 years in prison on charges including quasi-rape.

Jung was indicted on charges of brainwashing 16 female followers into a state of helpless submission by claiming to be the "Messiah," then sexually assaulting or molesting them at a retreat center in Wolmyeong-dong, Jinsan-myeon, Geumsan-gun, South Chungcheong Province, between 2018 and 2022.