Tang Tai-shen, 58, sexually abused the women, the youngest of whom was aged only 14 years old, under the pretext of offering them sex counselling and videotaped the crimes, the Apple Daily News said.

He was also ordered by the court to undergo therapy for three years, the report said.

Eight female staffers, including Tang's daughter-in-law, who were in charge of recruiting followers to his self-styled church, also received jail terms of between 12 months and seven and a half years for molesting the women, it said.

The pastor was arrested last year and has been detained since.

In 1999, Tang, then a pastor in the 'China Holiness Church', was convicted of molesting a female follower and was sentenced to three years and two months in prison in a case that shocked Taiwan's religious community.

He was released in 2005 after serving the full jail term. -- AFP