A pastor was handed down three years in prison by the Incheon District Court on Tuesday for raping a female member of his congregation. He was identified only by his last name, Sim, in the sentencing. According to the Incheon District Court, 35-year-old Sim claimed innocence as he and the 23-year-old churchgoer had supposedly had an existing romantic extramarital affair which involved mutually agreed sex.

On Jan. 4, Sim invited the victim to his house while his wife was away and raped the protesting victim.The victim testified in court that Sim had slapped her across the face when she refused to have sex with him.The court overruled Sim’s plea for innocence as forcing sexual acts on a protesting party is punishable as rape even between a married couple.Having an extramarital affair was illegal in Korea until 2015.By Lim Jeong-yeo ( kaylalim@heraldcorp.com