Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Evangelical, Pentecostal, and independent Busan, South Korea · 2025

South Korea: senior pastor's conviction for molesting five congregants affirmed by the Supreme Court

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

senior pastor of a church

Organization

No organization assigned

Spiritual nexus

The complainants were members of the defendant's own congregation, and the assaults occurred inside his pastoral study during what they understood to be pastoral counselling.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2025-11-01 · conviction, sentence reduced on appeal, affirmed on final appeal

    Busan District Court; appellate court; Supreme Court of Korea. A senior pastor in his sixties was convicted of habitually molesting five female members of his church, including placing his hand inside a congregant's clothing in his pastoral study. Busan District Court imposed two years; the appellate court reduced this to one year and six months, and the Supreme Court affirmed by dismissing his appeal.

Appellate history

  1. 2025 · undefined

    undefined

  2. 2026 · undefined

    undefined

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • pastoral counselling in the pastor's study
  • seniority over members of his own congregation

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report '신도 5명 성추행 목사' — Busan Ilbo reporting on the conviction of the senior pastor for molesting five congregants (2025).

Korean regional paper of record reporting the conviction, the pastoral-study setting, and the sentence.

Related record

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