Jeong Myeong-seok, the leader of a controversial religious organization, the Jesus Morning Star (JMS), who received a prison sentence of 23 years for sexual offenses last December, has been additionally charged with sexual harassment, police said Monday.
The Chungnam Provincial Police Agency said it has recently found that Jeong forcibly molested four female followers in their 20s and 30s — one German and three Koreans — between 2018 and 2021 at a church training facility, a hotel and other places, and sent the cases to the prosecution.
The police probe began after the four filed complaints against him last year.
A court sentenced the 78-year-old Jeong to 23 years in prison last December after finding him guilty of sexual assault and molestation involving three victims. Excluding the three victims, a total of 19 other people have lodged complaints against Jeong and police have so far completed investigations into six of them. A probe into the remaining 13 people is still ongoing.
Jeong, who refers to h
imself 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.
Source: Yonhap News Agency