"Original jurisdiction... Beyond the reasonable scope of discretion"
Jung Myung-seok, the founder of the Christian Gospel Mission (commonly known as JMS), who was arrested and indicted on charges of sexually assaulting and forcibly molesting female followers by abusing his religious status, had his sentence reduced to 17 years in prison in the appellate court. This is 6 years less than the 23-year sentence handed down in the first trial.
The Criminal Division 3 of the Daejeon High Court (Presiding Judge Kim Byung-sik) overturned the original sentence of 23 years in prison and sentenced Jung to 17 years in prison during the appellate trial on the 2nd, where he was charged with quasi-rape, quasi-indecent assault, forcible molestation, and quasi-forcible molestation. The appellate court stated, "The recommended sentencing range for the crimes applied to Jung is from 4 years to 19 years and 3 months in prison, and the original court’s sentence of 23 years exceeds the reasonable discretionary range and is therefore unjust." The court partially accepted Jung’s claim that the first trial’s sentencing was excessive.
Jung was tried on charges of committing sexual crimes against two foreign female followers by raping or molesting them 23 times at a training center in Geumsan County, Chungnam Province, from February 2018 to September 2021, and molesting one Korean female follower. He is also accused of falsely accusing the foreign female followers of sexual crimes and filing countercharges with the police.
In the first trial, the court sentenced Jung to 23 years in prison, stating that he called himself the Messiah and held absolute power, committing the crimes in a situation where the victims could not fully exercise their sexual self-determination. After the first trial’s verdict, Jung’s side filed an appeal, claiming factual and legal errors as well as excessive sentencing. The prosecution also appealed, demanding a harsher punishment.
In the appellate trial, the prosecution, which sought a 30-year sentence, emphasized, "The defendant committed the same type of crime during his probation period," and "As the head of a religious organization, he used his religious status to continuously brainwash the victim followers and justified the sexual violence as if it were a religious act."
On the other hand, Jung’s defense argued, "The female followers were neither brainwashed nor in a state of helplessness, and he has continuously preached that he is not a god but a human being," denying the charges. They also claimed, "The audio recordings of the crime scenes submitted by the victims to the prosecution could have been manipulated."
While the audio recordings of the crime scenes submitted by the victims were used as decisive evidence of guilt in the first trial, the appellate court judged that the authenticity and integrity of the copies and originals of the recordings were not proven, and that the original sentence exceeded the reasonable discretionary range.
Previously, Jung was sentenced to 10 years in prison for molesting or raping four female followers in their 20s at overseas resorts and accommodations from August 2001 to April 2006, serving his sentence and being released in February 2018. Separately from this appellate case, Jung was additionally indicted in May on charges of quasi-rape or molestation of two female followers and is currently undergoing a first trial.
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