Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Seoul, South Korea · 2019

Lee Jaerock: 16 years for raping congregants who believed him religiously infallible

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

founding pastor of a 130,000-member church, figure presented as possessing near-divine authority

Organization

Manmin Central Church

Spiritual nexus

All eight complainants had grown up inside the church. The court found they were unable to resist because of their absolute faith in Lee's claimed religious infallibility — the authority itself, not force, is what made refusal impossible.

Pastoral or clerical authority
Threatened spiritual consequence
Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2018-11-22 · conviction, sentence increased on appeal, affirmed

Seoul Central District Court; Supreme Court of Korea. Seoul Central District Court convicted Lee Jaerock on 42 counts of sexually assaulting and repeatedly raping eight women from his congregation, sentencing him to 15 years in November 2018. The sentence was increased to 16 years on appeal and upheld by the Supreme Court in August 2019.

Appellate history

2019 · undefined

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2019-08-01 · undefined

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Documented coercion mechanisms

claimed religious infallibility
lifelong membership and total doctrinal dependence

Primary record

Sources

international newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'South Korean pastor Lee Jae-rock who portrayed himself as God sentenced to 15 years for rape', CNN, 22 Nov. 2018.: Reports the 42-count conviction and the court's finding that the victims' faith in his infallibility prevented resistance.

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