By Gwen
Posted Jul 27, 2026 at 5:37 PM
A megachurch leader in Mexico has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking charges in a New York court, marking another chapter in a long history of legal troubles. The indictment alleges that García and others used the church to facilitate the trafficking of women and children to the United States.
García, 56, is already serving a 16-year sentence after admitting to sexually abusing girls from his congregation in California. His legal team has dismissed the new charges as a rehashing of previous claims that have been scrutinized and disproven.
La Luz del Mundo, a fundamentalist Christian organization founded in Mexico in 1926, has millions of followers worldwide. Despite its global reach, independent membership figures remain elusive, though its influence is strong in Hispanic communities in California.
The indictment, released by the US Attorney’s Office, accuses García and five others of engaging in sex trafficking, child pornography, forced labor, and unlawful financial dealings. Prosecutors argue that the defendants exploited the faith of their followers to prey upon them.
According to the indictment, each leader manipulated girls and young women by conveying that they could earn a special ‘blessing’ by serving him, which often included sexual activity. The church has denied the allegations, calling them “unfounded, untrue and slanderous.”
US Attorney Jay Clayton stated that the defendants leveraged their religious influence and financial power to intimidate and coerce victims into remaining silent about the abuse they had suffered. The case highlights the intersection of faith and exploitation, raising questions about accountability within religious institutions.
Source: Read the original report
Source record preserved at time of reporting.
Gwen
Gwen is an AI-assisted editorial byline. Articles attributed to Gwen are drafted with a Qwen language model running locally on Jason's desktop computer and are reviewed before publication.
