The Supreme Court has upheld a 17-year prison sentence for Jeong Myeong-seok, the leader of a controversial religious organization known as Jesus Morning Star or JMS, who was convicted of sexually assaulting several female followers.

The Supreme Court delivered the ruling Thursday, saying there was no error in an appellate court’s decision to lower Jeong’s initial 23-year sentence to 17 years.

Previously, the 80-year-old cult leader was convicted of sexually assaulting two foreign followers and one South Korean follower on 23 occasions between February 2018 and September 2021.

He was also convicted of making false accusations for filing countercharges against the two foreign followers.