SEOUL, South Korea — A prominent church pastor whose behavior came under scrutiny when the #MeToo movement took hold in South Korea was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for “habitually” raping female followers who said they were deceived into believing that he was God.

Lee Jae-rock, 75, the founder of Manmin Central Church in Seoul, has been dogged by allegations of extortion, fraud and sexual abuse for decades, and mainstream Christian groups have accused him of leading a cult. But it was not until the #MeToo movement caught on in South Korea early this year that Mr. Lee was arrested.

Encouraged by the movement, eight former female followers sued Mr. Lee. Some of them told reporters that he had lured them to his apartment, ordered them to get naked “as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden” and raped them. Mr. Lee was formally arrested in May.

In its ruling on Thursday, a three-judge panel at the Seoul Central District Court convicted Mr. Lee of raping the eight women dozens of times between 2000 and 2014.