Mexican religious leader Naasón Joaquín García has pleaded guilty to several counts of child sexual abuse, California’s attorney general said June 3.
The guilty plea comes just days before the start of the Los Angeles trial in which Garcia, 53, would face more than 20 charges, including rape, extortion and possession of child pornography, among other crimes perpetrated in California.
Naasón Joaquín García, a leader of the La Luz del Mundo church, admitted two counts of forced oral sex including minors and another of lewd act with a child under 15 years old.
Read more | Despite accusations against Naasón García, 600 thousand people attend the event of the Light of the World
“Garcia used his power to take advantage of minors. He leaned on his entourage to sexually abuse worshippers,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “Today’s conviction cannot reverse the damage, but it will help protect future generations.”
The religious was arrested at the Los Angeles airport on June 3, 2019, and has been detained ever since.
Considered his accomplices, along with him were captured Susana Medina Oaxaca and Alondra Ocampo, who in 2020 pleaded guilty to three counts of contacting minors for sexual acts and one count of forced sexual penetration.
Garcia will hear his sentence on Wednesday, and is expected to face several years in prison.
Oaxaca also pleaded guilty and was convicted of assault. A third woman is on the run.
Luz del Mundo was founded in 1926 in Guadalajara by García’s father, Eusebio Joaquín González, who claimed to have had a “divine revelation” in his dreams.
The congregation emerged as a branch of the Apostolic Church of Faith in Christ Jesus, a derivation of the Pentecostal Church, and its faithful, who are called “Aaronites,” require permission from leading leaders to travel, study, work, or marry.
In March 2020, Mexican authorities froze nearly $20 million in accounts of six people linked to the La Luz del Mundo church.
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