JMS Jeong Myung-seok, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison, was commuted to sexual assault by a goddess.

He also refused to accept the claim of 'manipulation and editing of recording files', and was sentenced to handing over the upper limit of the recommendation sentence for

...We need to be careful."

"Victims cannot exercise their right to sexual self-determination...Keep Centrifugal"

[Anchor]
JMS President Chung Myung-seok, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison in the first trial for sexually assaulting Goddess Island, was sentenced to 17 years in prison in the appeal trial.

The appeals court did not recognize the on-site recording file, which emerged as a key issue, as evidence.

Reporter Kim Ki-soo's report.

[Reporter]
JMS President Chung Myung-seok, who was handed over to trial on charges of habitual sexual assault and forced harassment of several people, was sentenced to 17 years in prison at the appeal trial.

The sentence is six years less than the first trial, which sentenced him to 23 years in prison.

For the reason of commutation, the appeals court decided that the recording file of the sexual assault scene recognized by the court below could not be viewed as evidence.

It is believed that no proof has been made as to whether the submitted copy of the recording file is the same as the original.

However, he also refused to accept the claim that there was a manipulation or editing of the recorded file raised by Chung Myung-seok.

On top of that, the lower court sentenced him to over the upper limit of the recommended sentence, which is a maximum of 19 years and 3 months, and noted that he needed to be cautious.

The appeals court judged that the judgment of the lower court was beyond the reasonable scope of its discretion.

At the same time, he explained that the credibility of the victims' statements was recognized.

The statements are consistent and specific before the complaint, and the parts that are not recognized or remembered are clearly distinguished,
I saw that there were a number of evidence and circumstances consistent with the
statement.

The lower court also accepted the judgment that the victims were unable to exercise their right to sexual self-determination while accepting Chung Myung-seok as a messiah.

In response, the victim protested that he could not understand the judgment of the court that decided to reduce the sentence by accepting the sentencing unfairness claimed by Chung Myung-seok.

[Professor Kim Do-hyung / Spokesperson for the victim: There was no self-reflection and there was no minimum effort to recover from the damage, but all the victims were disappointed. The prosecution appealed that the sentence was small, but the victims felt the same way..]

JMS also says it cannot accept the appellate court's ruling, which sentenced him to prison following the original trial.

[Jung Sung-jo / JMS Spokesperson: We cannot accept the conviction of Rev. Chung Myung-seok. Unlike the first trial, the second trial court decided to reduce the sentence, but the members of the Missionary Church believe in the complete innocence of Pastor Chung Myung-seok.

The final sentence for Chung Myung-seok is expected to be decided by the Supreme Court, as JMS announced that it would appeal, saying it would be acquitted until the end.

I'm Kim Ki-soo of YTN.

Filmmaker: Kwon Minho
Design: Lee Ga-eun