Naasón Joaquín García, the chief of the La Luz del Mundo, and different key figures within the church are charged with federal crimes that carry penalties as much as life in jail. He’s seen right here in 2019 in a Los Angeles courtroom, the place he confronted state expenses.
Damian Dovarganes/AP
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Damian Dovarganes/AP
Six leaders of the Mexico-based La Luz del Mundo megachurch — together with its present “apostle,” Naasón Joaquín García, his mom and 4 associates — are dealing with federal expenses of racketeering, baby pornography and intercourse trafficking, below a lately unsealed indictment. Most penalties for among the offenses embody life in jail.
García, 56, has been serving a 16-year, 8-month jail sentence in California, after reaching a plea deal in 2022 on state intercourse abuse expenses.
García was moved into federal custody on Wednesday, authorities stated because the indictment was unsealed. On the identical day, his mom, 79-year-old Eva García de Joaquín, was arrested in Los Angeles. His legal professional says that García is harmless.
“We categorically deny these charges,” García’s protection legal professional Alan Jackson stated in a press release to NPR. “We reject the grotesque portrait painted by the government and its allies.”
Survivors hail ‘a great day’
Prosecutors declare the household that has led La Luz del Mundo — or “Light of the World” — for almost 100 years additionally used it to facilitate sexual abuse throughout successive generations. The indictment alleges that García, his late father, Samuel Joaquín Flores, and grandfather Aarón Joaquin Gonzalez, who based the church, systematically abused their followers, aided by kin and workers.
“On at least one occasion, [Samuel’s wife Eva García de Joaquín] held down a minor victim so that Samuel could rape the victim,” the indictment alleges.
In lots of circumstances, women and girls abused by one chief remained within the church and have become the moms of the following chief’s victims, prosecutors declare.
“So many survivors have been speaking up now” from Mexico and the U.S., Sochil Martin, 39, a former church member who has cooperated with authorities investigating García, tells NPR.
Martin says the church’s elite oversaw generations of abuse, noting that her aunt, who’s now in her 60s, says she was assaulted by Samuel and his spouse when she was a youngster. Now the apostles’ victims are welcoming information of the federal expenses, she says.
“It was a good day for her,” Martin says of her aunt’s response. “Even though Samuel left this world and didn’t pay his debt to society and to the kids that he abused, at least his wife is now living to see that day. And that’s a form of justice for a lot of survivors.”
Courtroom paperwork lay out wicked crimes
In a search of Los Angeles properties belonging to Naasón Joaquín García and his mom, Eva García de Joaquín, officers seized “well over $1 million in U.S. currency,” together with overseas money and a trove of valuables, in line with federal prosecutors.
Division of Justice / Screenshot by NPR
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Division of Justice / Screenshot by NPR
In federal court docket filings, prosecutors declare García engaged in wicked and unspeakable acts in opposition to minor boys and women and girls, together with rape, pressured incest and what are described as “sadistic sexual rituals for his sexual gratification.”
Arguing in opposition to bail for these in custody, prosecutors stated in a memo that García, extensively referred to as Naasón, and others “victimized at least dozens of minor and adult LLDM Church members in Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere.” Some victims have been as younger as 13, the doc acknowledged. It added that the leaders trafficked victims on worldwide journeys to Asia, Europe, Africa, Mexico, and the U.S. — and used the victims to assist smuggle cash.
Together with García and his mom, the indictment lists 4 different defendants:
- Joram Núñez Joaquín, 37, a relative and regulation college graduate. He is accused of posing as a practising lawyer, silencing victims and witnesses, and destroying proof;
- Silem García Peña, 43, who led the church’s public relations arm and allegedly labored to forestall victims from reporting abuse;
- Rosa Sosa, 59, and Azalia Rangel García, 46, each accused of “grooming” victims and abusing minors and younger ladies.
Núñez Joaquín was arrested on Wednesday exterior Chicago; the opposite three defendants are believed to be at massive in Mexico.
Jackson, the protection legal professional, says the allegations in opposition to García are unfounded and a part of a “reckless campaign of government overreach.” He says the fees stem from disgruntled former congregation members, and predicts that they are going to be disproven in court docket.
Search turns up a protected hidden below a lure door
At Eva García de Joaquín’s house, regulation enforcement officers discovered a trapdoor in a bed room that hid an underground protected and a dehumidifier. The protected held massive quantities of money together with gold cash and a USB drive, prosecutors say.
Division of Justice/ Screenshot by NPR
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Division of Justice/ Screenshot by NPR
Regulation enforcement officers looking the household’s two adjoining properties in East Los Angeles discovered greater than $1 million in money, together with “numerous gold coins, pure gold and platinum pieces, luxury watches, and jewelry,” prosecutors stated within the detention memo.
A trapdoor was found below a mattress in García’s mom’s home, revealing stairs resulting in an underground compartment holding a built-in protected, in line with the memo. Inside, officers discovered stacks of money totaling round $220,000, jewellery, a jade-wrapped USB drive and gold cash.
The household has “access to vast internationally accessible wealth,” the prosecutors stated as they argued for continued detention. Additionally they famous that one defendant, Rangel García, has been at massive and is believed to be in Mexico since being named in California state expenses in 2019.
The indictment seeks the forfeit of a number of properties, together with three properties in Los Angeles and a rural house in San Bernardino County, Calif.
Church leaders have ‘excessive’ energy, filmmaker says
An aerial view from 2023 exhibits followers of Iglesia La Luz Del Mundo (Gentle of the World, at heart) within the streets of Guadalajara in Jalisco State, Mexico.
Ulises Ruiz/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
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Ulises Ruiz/AFP by way of Getty Photographs
The nondenominational Christian church, and Martin and different accusers’ claims in opposition to it, have been featured in a 2022 HBO documentary, Unveiled: Surviving La Luz del Mundo, which depicted the apostle who leads the church as having full management over its members.
“The power that they wield is extreme,” Unveiled director Jennifer Tiexiera advised NPR’s Right here & Now in 2022. “The members believe that that’s the direct connection to God himself.”
Followers who communicate out in opposition to the apostle or the church are ostracized and threatened with violence, in line with Martin.
“It is the mafia. That’s what it is,” she says. “And it’s disguised as a church.”
Amongst rank-and-file members of the church, Tiexiera has stated she’s met many people who find themselves intent on non secular service: “It’s not the membership that’s wholly corrupt,” she advised The Los Angeles Instances. “It’s the hierarchy. And that breaks my heart.”
Church claims to have tens of millions of followers
Prosecutors accuse García and his 5 co-defendants of manufacturing baby pornography and benefiting from pressured labor – and sustaining their actions by way of unlawful monetary operations and obstructions of justice.
“They exploited the faith of their followers to prey upon them,” U.S. Legal professional Jay Clayton stated as the fees have been introduced. “When they were confronted, they leveraged their religious influence and financial power to intimidate and coerce victims into remaining silent about the abuse they had suffered.”
The federal expenses comply with years of investigation and assist from dozens of victims — a course of that’s persevering with, in line with Homeland Safety Investigations Particular Agent in Cost Ricky J. Patel.
“I thank the brave survivors who provided law enforcement with vital information related to these allegations,” he stated, “and I encourage others with helpful information to do the same.”
The case in New York’s Southern District is assigned to District Choose Loretta Preska, who has additionally dealt with sex-trafficking proceedings associated to the late Jeffrey Epstein and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell.
La Luz del Mundo relies in Guadalajara, Mexico, nevertheless it has substantial operations and holdings within the U.S., together with a big church and residences in Los Angeles. Different church buildings and properties listed in court docket filings are in New York, Nevada, Texas, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
The church presently claims greater than 6 million followers and operates in additional than 60 international locations, in line with a current story by El Occidental, a newspaper in Guadalajara. Of their indictment, U.S. prosecutors stated that dependable membership numbers weren’t out there.
