South Korean sect leader gets additional 33 years in jail for sexual assaults

The leader of South Korea's Jesus Morning Star religious sect, Jung Myung-seok, has been sentenced to an additional 33 years in prison. He was found guilty of sexually assaulting and abusing female followers, according to prosecutors. Jung is already serving a 17-year sentence for separate sexual assaults committed after his release from prison in 2008 following a rape conviction.

In the latest case, Jung is accused of sexually assaulting and abusing 16 female followers over several years up until 2022. He will serve the 33-year term consecutively to his existing sentence, as reported by a Daejeon court official. The sect's mission office in South Chungcheong province did not comment on whether Jung would appeal the ruling. Another sect official received a seven-year prison sentence for aiding Jung's actions.