"JMS Victim Maple Still Screams and Wakes Up at Night"

JMS Sexual Assault Victim's Lawyer Jeong Min-young
"Repeating the Testimony of the Incident Is Extremely Painful"
"Had to Describe Exactly Where and How the Touching Occurred"

In the trial of Jeong Myeong-seok, the president of the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) accused of sexually assaulting female followers, witness questioning of a foreign female follower took place. Victim's lawyer Jeong Min-young stated, "The victim suffered greatly as the process of repeatedly testifying about the abuse was repeated."

Lawyer Jeong appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" on the 5th and said, "Testimony is not just about stating the date of the molestation or rape, but also about describing the posture, which hand touched where and how," adding, "The victim experiences a very horrific ordeal every time she recalls those memories."

Directional stone marker to the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) Wolmyeongdong Training Center.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lawyer Jeong explained, "The defense attorney for Jeong repeatedly asked the victim questions like 'Why didn't you say no?'" and "(The victims) considered Jeong Myeong-seok as the Messiah at the time, so they blamed themselves, thinking 'Why do I dislike this?' or 'Is my faith insufficient?' and the harm continued in this process. Even though all these were explained, the victims had to keep answering, which was inevitably very difficult for them."

On the 3rd, during the sixth trial session for Jeong's charges including quasi-rape held at the Daejeon District Court's 12th Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Na Sang-hoon), witness questioning of A (29), a Hong Kong national, was conducted. A is Maple, who revealed her face and real name in the Netflix documentary "I Am a God" JMS episode and exposed Jeong's sexual assault. Lawyer Jeong said Maple once could not enter the courtroom for a while due to abdominal pain caused by stress during her testimony.

Lawyer Jeong also said that there was no sign of remorse from Jeong. He said, "Statements emphasizing 'JMS is not a strange religion,' 'We do not brainwash or say Jeong Myeong-seok is the Messiah' were heavily emphasized during the witness questioning."

The most frustrating part of the trial was "the victims were very afraid to file complaints against Jeong Myeong-seok despite having been harmed," and "In the case of B, an Australian national who filed a complaint this time, when she tried to file a complaint, she received a video message from a JMS official in Australia. The video threatened, saying 'We are connected to many powerful people in Australia,' and 'If you continue with the complaint, we will publicize aspects of your private life that you do not want to be revealed.'

Lawyer Jeong said the victims are suffering so much pain that they cannot recover even after a long time since the abuse. He said, "(Maple) not only suffered sexual violence but also has tremendous resentment for having lost her twenties," adding, "Although she filed the complaint with great difficulty, she still has nightmares, wakes up screaming at night, and such incidents continue."

He added, "Ultimately, we have to wait and see what kind of verdict Jeong Myeong-seok receives," and "It seems likely that the prosecution will file additional charges regarding other victims in April."