7-yr sentence confirmed for accomplice in religious leader's sexual offense

SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld lower courts' seven-year prison sentence for an accomplice in the alleged sexual offense by Jeong Myeong-seok, the leader of a controversial religious organization, the Jesus Morning Star (JMS).

The accomplice, named Kim Ji-sun, 46, is convicted of assisting in Jeong's sexual offense in 2018 by instructing a JMS member from Hong Kong to sleep with him.

Kim has been known as Jeong's successor and the religious organization's No. 2 figure.

Kim has denied her charges but both a district court and a court of appeals sentenced her to seven years in prison.

The top court also confirmed a three-year prison sentence and a sentence of 1 1/2 years, suspended for three years, respectively, for two other JMS officials accused of assisting in Jeong's sexual offenses.

Jeong was sentenced by a district court to 23 years in prison in December last year on charges of committing sexual assault and molestation involving three victims. But the Daejeon High Court in Daejeon, 160 kilometers south of Seoul, reduced Jeong's sentence to 17 years last week.

Jeong, who refers to himself as the Messiah, or the second coming of Jesus, was released in 2018 after serving 10 years in prison for raping a number of female followers and embezzling funds from JMS.

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