Aug 12, 2008: Jeong Found Guilty

On August 12, 2008 Jeong was found guilty of raping his female followers.

While good news for the Anti-JMS movement and victims, the 6 year sentence handed to Jeong was viewed as very light. Both the defense and the prosecution appealed the sentence. The appeal trial also found Jeong guilty and added four years to his sentence and that decision was upheld by Korea's Supreme Court on April 23, 2009 ending the appeal process.

The day following the initial verdict saw the largest media coverage of the cult with numerous news organisations in numerous countries and languages reporting the news. Personally, the day was the closest I ever got to Jeong although I didn't lay eyes on him. I was standing outside the court room with a few friends and about 50 of his followers as the verdict was announced; quite an interesting experience.

Here is one of the better articles - from Korea's JoongAng Daily, and below a link to the thread on our forums where fellow forum administrator and cult researcher extraordinaire RB found practically hundreds of links reporting the news.

JMS Cult Leader is Convicted of Rape

Jung Myung-seok, self-proclaimed messiah and founder of the JMS cult, was convicted yesterday of sex crimes against female believers and sentenced to six years in prison. The Seoul Central District Court ruled that the 63-year-old cult leader is guilty of raping three female followers. “At the time of the sexual crimes, the victims had believed that Jung was the messiah and worshiped his absolute authority,” said presiding Judge Bae Gi-yeol. “Therefore, the victims were psychologically unable to resist the crimes.” Bae also said the court has no reservations about handing down a severe punishment because Jung’s crimes are “extremely heinous, but he denied any wrongdoing.”

Following media reports about the abuse allegations, Jung fled Korea in 1999 and had been hiding in neighboring countries. He was extradited from China in February this year to face the charges. During his time on the run, a series of accusations of sexual abuse surfaced in other countries as he continued to expand his cult abroad. In 2001, he fled Taiwan after authorities there began to investigate him on rape charges. In 2003, Interpol put him on a list of fraud and sex crime suspects. After questioning, Seoul prosecutors indicted him on charges of sexually assaulting five female Korean believers from 2001 to 2006 in Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. Of the five charges, he was convicted on three counts of rape, acquitted on one count, and one case was dismissed because the victim dropped the charges.

Jung had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, claiming that false testimony and accusations were being made against him by Exodus, an anti-JMS group founded by former followers of the cult. Formerly a member of the Unification Church, Jung established JMS, also known as Providence, in Seoul in the early 1980s.