Sexual predator and child molester: the downfall of a powerful religious leader

Naason Joaquín Garcia, called the head of an evangelical cult founded in Mexico “The light of the world”, He was sentenced last week to 16 years and eight months in prison for sexually abusing three women then minors in California, United States.

The 53-year-old detainee pleaded guilty to these events after being arrested in California in 2019 for crimes committed between 2015 and 2018 while heading the La Luz del Mundo organization.

It is an international religious organization based in Mexico that claims to have five million followers worldwide, according to the AFP agency.

The leader and two co-defendants, also found guilty, have been identified forcing victims to engage in sexual acts telling them that “if they went against the will or the will of the Apostle”, the title given by Garcia, “they opposed God”.

The religious leader denied it for a long time, but ended up “pleading guilty” in accordance with justice for rape of two minors and act of sexual violence against a 15-year-old girl.

Before announcing the amount of the sentence applied to García, Judge Ronald Coen apologized to the victims, many of whom wanted to testify in the trial initially scheduled for this week in Los Angeles, and asked for the maximum sentence for the rapist.

“My hands are tied,” the judge explained to the women. But “the world listened to them,” added Judge Coen, who described the condemned as a “sexual predator”.

“He deserves to remain in prison forever, but that would still not be enough,” said one of the victims in a statement read to the public.

Despite the testimony and the fact that its leader acknowledged the facts, the organization “La Luz del Mundo” has publicly renewed its support for those it considers “the Apostle of Jesus Christ”.

In a Spanish statement posted on its Twitter account following the announcement of the sentence, the organization accuses the judiciary of “fabricating” evidence against García and not granting him a fair trial.

According to the church, “he had no choice but to accept a plea deal” and plead guilty, like the “the best way to protect the Church and your family”.

“Our trust in him remains intact in all knowledge of his integrity, his conduct and his work,” states the cult.

Who is Naason?

Born on May 7, 1969 in Guadalajara, Naasón Merarí Joaquín García was destined to become one of the religious leaders of Mexico. There was no merit in it; at some point García would inherit the highest position in La Luz del Mundo, a religious cult founded in 1926 by his grandfather Eusebio Joaquín González.

After serving as a missionary in Europe and a minister in dozens of congregations across the United States, Naasón took over the leadership of the Church upon the death of his father, Samuel Joaquín Flores, in 2014.

Even without the permission of the Ministry of the Interior which accredits him as a religious figure, the ‘Third Apostle’ of La Luz del Mundo has for years controlled a cult with hundreds of thousands of followers in Mexico, the United States and Brazil. He also maintained a pristine image of a father of a family, a faithful husband, and a pastor concerned about his faithful ones, who he advised to ‘take care of the souls of God’ in passionate talk about him.

On June 4, 2019, Naasón Joaquín García was arrested along with two women upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport.

According to official documents, the pastor allegedly participated in at least 14 crimes, including conspiracy for the trafficking of human beings for sexual purposes, rape of minors and the production of child pornography.