He made people believe that he was the Messiah: He received another 33 years on charges of sexual assault on his female followers

According to South Korean Yonhap agency, the local district court on Monday sentenced the leader of the religious sect "Jesus Morning Star" (JMS) to 33 years in prison on charges of sexually harassing his female followers.

The Daejeon District Court sentenced 81-year-old Jeong Myeong-seok to a sentence longer than the 27 years requested by the prosecution in his latest conviction for sexual harassment.

Jeong was accused of sexually assaulting or harassing 16 female members between 2018 and 2022. The defendant prevented his victims from resisting by brainwashing them into believing that he was the "messiah".

“The manner and methods of committing the crime are extremely malicious and a heavy penalty is inevitable because the criminal acts are committed repeatedly over a long period of time using the structure of religious control and influence,” the court said.

The court also ordered Jeong to wear an electronic monitoring device for 15 years and banned him from working in facilities for children, adolescents and the disabled for 10 years.

Jeong is currently serving a 17-year prison sentence after the Supreme Court finalized its decision in January 2025 for sexually assaulting a Hong Kong citizen and sexually harassing an Australian follower and a South Korean follower.

Before the 2025 sentencing, he had served a 10-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting or harassing four female followers abroad between 2001 and 2006. He was released in February 2018.