He had appealed the initial sentence.
On Wednesday, October 2, a Korean appeals court reduced the prison sentence for Jeong Myeong Seokthe founder of the infamous Christian religious cult JMS (Jesus Morning Start, alternatively known as Church of Providence), convicted of sex crimes.
In December 2023, the Daejeon District Court sentenced Jeong to 23 years in prison for sexually assaulting three foreign followers of the JMS Church. Jeong abused and assaulted the three victims 23 times between February 2018 and September 2021. This marked his second prison sentence, as he was released in 2018 after serving ten years in prison for sexually abusing and assaulting four of his followers numerous times from 2001 to 2021. 2006.
Jeong Myeong Seok appealed his second prison sentence, and the Daejeon High Court accepted his argument that the 23-year sentence was unfair due to factual errors and misapplication of the law. The court reduced his sentence by six years, instead turning it into a 17-year prison sentence.
Jeong Myeong Seok’s brutal crimes have been revealed to the world in a chilling Netflix docuseries. In the name of God: a saint Betrayalwhere many of his victims came forward with testimonies of having been sexually exploited and harassed by the founder of JMS. Jeong had claimed to be the “Messiah” and had brainwashed the members into believing everything he said.
He then used his power and position to lure tall, beautiful women into the cult to sexually assault them, which he often did under the guise of blessing or giving health checks. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Jung Myeong Seok created a cycle where women would attract more women into the church. His crimes were first exposed in 1999, when he fled the country, but he continued to assault women in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan before being extradited to Korea to face his charges in 2008. He was welcomed by the church JMS released and continued his heinous crimes with new female followers.
You can read more about Jeong Myeong Seok’s horrific crimes here.
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