The Daejeon District Court found the 81-year-old founder of religious sect Jesus Morning Star (JMS) guilty of sexually assaulting and molesting 16 female followers between 2018 and 2022, handing down him to 33 years in prison, six years more than the 27 years sought by prosecutors.
The court said its ruling was based on consistent accounts from the victims, witness statements and other evidence.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered Jung to wear an electronic tracking device for 15 years and barred him from working at facilities serving children, adolescents and people with disabilities for 10 years.
"The crimes were particularly egregious, as he repeatedly committed them over a long period, making a severe punishment unavoidable," the court said. It added that he used his power as leader of the quasi-religious sect to manipulate young female followers into believing he was the "Messiah" to sexually abuse them, leaving them unable to resist.
Jung denied the allegations, claiming that he had never physically molested the victims.
But the court said Jung had pressured victims to remain silent, dismissed their accounts as fabricated or financially motivated, and shown no remorse, which the court considered grounds for a harsher punishment.
The latest sentence adds to Jung's lengthy criminal record involving sexual offenses against female followers, as the octogenarian is currently serving a separate 17-year prison sentence in Daejeon in a separate case involving similar offenses against a Hong Kong follower and others from Australia and South Korea.
He previously served a 10-year prison sentence from 2008 to 2018 for sexually assaulting four female followers in their 20s in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia between 2001 and 2006, only to face additional similar charges shortly after his release.
JMS, also known as the Christian Gospel Mission, was founded by Jung in 1980 and has faced repeated allegations of sexual abuse involving its leader.
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