South Korean cult leader Lee Jaerock was convicted on Thursday, 22 November 2018, of raping eight female followers and sentenced to 15 years in prison after a Seoul court found he abused his religious authority to control them.
Judge Chung Moon-sung told the Seoul Central District Court that the victims were “unable to resist as they were subject to the accused's absolute religious authority”. The court said the assaults and molestation happened repeatedly over a long period, with the judge adding that the pastor had used sermons to suggest he was the Holy Spirit and had effectively deified himself.
Lee, who founded the Manmin Central Church in Guro, a once poor district of Seoul, started the church in 1982 with just 12 followers. It later expanded into a congregation of about 130,000 members, complete with a large auditorium, headquarters and a website that promoted claims of miracle cures.
The case emerged as South Korea was gripped by a wave of #MeToo allegations earlier in 2018. Three women came forward publicly before eight women filed criminal complaints, saying Lee summoned them to an apartment and forced them into sex. One woman told South Korean television, “I was unable to turn him down,” and said, “He was more than a king. He was God.” Another said Lee told her she was in Heaven and instructed her to strip, comparing the scene to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. She told JTBC television, “I cried as I hated to do it.”
Lee denied the charges. His lawyers argued the women were lying and seeking revenge after being excommunicated for breaking church rules. He stood with his eyes closed as the verdict was read, showing no emotion, while about 100 followers filled the courtroom and some sighed quietly.
The court said the victims believed him to be “a divine being who wields divine power”. The ruling also noted the broader religious environment in South Korea, where 44 percent of people identify as believers and fringe groups have drawn scrutiny over fraud, brainwashing and coercion.
Experts cited in the report said around 60 people in South Korea claim to be divine, underscoring the wider context in which groups like Lee’s have operated.
