The longtime head of a Mexican megachurch who’s serving greater than 16 years in a California jail for sexually abusing younger followers has been charged with racketeering conspiracy and intercourse trafficking for allegedly victimizing members of the church for many years, authorities stated Wednesday.
A federal grand jury in New York returned the indictment alleging that Naasón Joaquín García, 56, and 5 others exploited the church for many years to allow the systemic sexual abuse of kids and girls for the sexual gratification of García and his father, who died in 2014.
The newly unsealed indictment stated the prison exercise included the creation of images and movies of kid sexual abuse.
García was taken into federal custody early Wednesday in Chino, California, the place he’s serving a greater than 16-year sentence after pleading responsible in 2022 to 2 state counts.
His attorneys didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
García is the pinnacle of La Luz del Mundo (The Gentle of the World), which claims to have 5 million followers worldwide. Believers think about him to be the “apostle” of Jesus Christ.
Prosecutors in California have stated that he used his religious sway to have intercourse with women and younger girls who had been instructed it might result in their salvation — or damnation in the event that they refused.
In addition to García, one defendant charged within the case was taken into custody in Los Angeles whereas one other was arrested in Chicago, authorities stated. Three others had been at giant.
Based on the indictment, two of the defendants and others tried to destroy proof and stop victims of the sexual abuse from talking to legislation enforcement after García was arrested.
It stated they pressured victims to signal false declarations disclaiming that any abuse occurred, drafted and distributed sermons stating that every one sexual abuse victims had been mendacity and strengthened church doctrine that doubting the apostle was a sin punishable by everlasting damnation.
In a launch, U.S. Lawyer Jay Clayton stated García and the others “exploited the faith of their followers to prey upon them.”
He added: “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.”
Ricky J. Patel, the pinnacle of the New York workplace of Homeland Safety Investigations, stated the costs resulted from a “yearslong investigation that spanned the country and involved the support of dozens of courageous victims.”
