Police Complaint Filed... Number of Complainants Expected to Increase
Jung Myung-seok, the president of the Christian Gospel Mission (commonly known as JMS), who is on trial for charges including quasi-rape of foreign female followers, has been accused again by a Korean female follower.
According to the Women and Youth Crime Investigation Unit of the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency on the 13th, a female follower in her 30s filed a complaint with the police at the end of last month, alleging that Jung sexually harassed her. This brings the total number of women who have accused Jung of sexual assault or harassment to six.
It is known that there are more victims preparing legal action, so the number of accusers is expected to increase. Jung Min-young, the legal representative of the victims, stated, "Most of the victims are women in their 20s to 30s, and about three to four more are preparing to file complaints."
According to the lawyer, among the victims are foreign female followers as well. They claim to have been victimized mainly between 2018 and 2019 at church facilities located in Geumsan, Chungnam.
Previously, three Korean female followers filed additional complaints against Jung in December last year and January this year, and the police have completed the investigation into one of them for violation of the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes and sent the case to the prosecution.
Jung is currently on trial at the Daejeon District Court, charged with molesting or sexually assaulting a Hong Kong national female follower A (29) 17 times at training centers in Wolmyeong-dong, Jinsan-myeon, Geumsan-gun from February 2018 to September 2021, and sexually harassing an Australian national B (31) five times from July to the end of 2018.
Prosecutors and police are conducting a search and seizure of the JMS training center in Wolmyeong-dong, Geumsan, Chungnam, and the World Mission Headquarters in connection with allegations of sexual assault by Jung Myung-seok, the president of the Christian Gospel Mission (commonly known as JMS). The photo shows a signpost leading to the Wolmyeong-dong training center. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Investigations revealed that Jung called himself the Messiah and brainwashed his followers before committing these crimes. Jung’s side denies the charges, stating that the accusers were not sexually brainwashed or in a state unable to resist, and that he clearly stated he is "a human, not God."
Previously, from August 2001 to April 2006, Jung was sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting or sexually assaulting four female followers in their 20s at a resort in Malaysia, an apartment in Hong Kong, and a lodging in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, and was released in February 2018 after serving his sentence.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
