South Korean sect leader gets additional 33 years in jail for sexual assaults

SEOUL: The leader of the South Korean religious sect Jesus Morning Star was sentenced on Monday (Oct 19) to a further 33 years in jail after being found guilty of sexually assaulting and abusing female followers.

Jung Myung-seok, believed to be in his early 80s, is currently serving a 17-year sentence after being convicted of separate sexual assaults of followers. Those assaults occurred after he was released from prison following a 2008 rape conviction.

In this latest case, Jung - who was featured in a Netflix documentary series In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal about four South Korean religious leaders accused of various crimes - was accused of sexually assaulting and abusing 16 female followers for several years through 2022.

Jung would serve the 33-year term after the earlier sentence, a Daejeon court official said.

An official at the sect's mission office in South Chungcheong province did not have immediate comment on whether Jung would appeal the ruling.

Another sect official was sentenced to seven years in prison for abetting Jung's actions, the official said.