Defense for La Luz del Mundo Leader Rejects Criminal Enterprise Label in Sex Crime Case

Federal authorities in Mexico closed a case against Naasón Joaquín García, leader of La Luz del Mundo, in December 2025, according to one report. The Attorney General’s Office (FGR) had ended its investigation at that time.

In April 2026, the case was reopened. Reports differ on which court acted. El Financiero said Federal Judge Juan José Rodríguez Velarde, in the federal courts of Puente Grande, ordered the investigation reopened. Proceso reported that the Judicial Power of the Federation revoked the FGR’s closure of the file and ordered the investigation reinstated. El Universal described the order as coming from a Jalisco supervisory judge, who directed the FGR to reopen an investigation into child trafficking and sexual abuse allegations against Joaquín García. Several outlets described the reopening as a new judicial step in Mexico.

Later in 2026, the case moved to the United States. According to Blanco y Negro, the defense for Joaquín García filed a new appeal with a federal judge in New York seeking dismissal of the charges. The report said a trial was planned in New York. The available reports do not describe the charges in detail or the court’s response to the appeal.

The defense has also disputed how the church has been characterized. SDP Noticias reported that Joaquín García rejects claims that La Luz del Mundo is a criminal enterprise. W Radio reported that his defense accused the United States government of disqualifying and criminalizing the church’s beliefs and practices. These are the defense’s positions as reported, and the sources do not describe a court ruling on them.

A BBC News Mundo report, whose headline refers to victims’ reactions, describes Joaquín García as “extremely dangerous” and cites the indignation of victims over what the headline calls his declaration of guilt. The body text available in the source is incomplete, and the other reports do not describe a guilty plea. The sources therefore do not reconcile the defense’s pending request for dismissal with the BBC headline’s reference to a declaration of guilt, and the status of that declaration cannot be confirmed from this material.

Allegations against Joaquín García, including the child trafficking and sexual abuse claims cited by El Universal, remain allegations as reported. Protecting the vulnerable, especially children, is central to how the reopened inquiry has been framed in the coverage (Proverbs 31:8-9).