JMS headquarters raided as part of sexual assault investigations

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JMS headquarters raided as part of sexual assault investigations

Published: 23 Mar. 2023, 16:37 Updated: 23 Mar. 2023, 16:51

The headquarters of the Jesus Morning Star (JMS) religious organization in Geumsan, South Chungcheong [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Prosecutors and police raided the headquarters of the controversial pseudo-Christian religious organization Jesus Morning Star (JMS) Thursday as part of their investigation into allegations that its leader Jeong Myeong-seok sexually assaulted more female followers.

Some 200 investigators from the Chungnam Provincial Police and the Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office searched the head office of JMS located in Geumsan, South Chungcheong, as well as the houses of Jeong and his accomplice the same day.

The search comes after an additional three Korean female followers filed a complaint against Jeong in January for allegedly sexually harassing them and to press additional charges against Jeong as his detention period is set to expire next month.

Jeong is currently on trial under detention after he was indicted last October for sexually abusing two female foreigners.

He was accused of sexually assaulting a 28-year-old female follower from Hong Kong between February 2017 and September 2021 and sexually harassing a 30-year-old woman from Australia in 2018.

Jeong Myeong-seok, leader of the Jesus Morning Star (JMS) cult, in a photo featured in the Netflix documentary ″In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal″ [NETFLIX]

Jeong, who lured people into the cult by calling himself the messiah, completed his previous 10-year prison term in February 2018 after sexually assaulting and harassing four other women followers in their 20s from 2001 to 2006 while staying in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Ansan, Gyeonggi.

The JMS cult and Jeong’s crimes came under fire after recently becoming exposed through a popular Netflix documentary series titled "In the Name of God: A Holy Betrayal," which was released earlier this month.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]