Five Survivors Make New Abuse Allegations Against La Luz del Mundo Leader Naasón Joaquín García

Naasón Joaquín García, described in one report as the former leader of the La Luz del Mundo megachurch, is the subject of new complaints. According to Fox LA, five survivors have made new allegations of abuse against him, and they were set to discuss the allegations on Monday.

Fox LA reported that García was previously sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison for sex-related crimes involving minors. It said that in early June he pleaded guilty to multiple felony counts of sexual assault involving three separate minors, and that he is expected to be ordered to register as a sex offender for life. The California Department of Justice led a multiyear investigation that began in 2018 and led to arrests in 2019 of García, Susana Medina Oaxaca and Alondra Ocampo. García was convicted of two counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and one count of a lewd act upon a 15-year-old child, according to the same report.

MinistryWatch gives a different account of the case’s status. Citing the California attorney general’s office and a church statement, it reported that a Superior Court judge ordered García’s trial to begin on September 27. García faces counts of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation of a minor, human trafficking, and possession of child pornography, the report said. Bail was set at $90 million in August 2020. Oaxaca, who is out on bail, is also set to face trial beginning September 27. Ocampo pleaded guilty to four counts last October, and the terms of her plea deal have not been disclosed.

According to court documents cited by MinistryWatch, Ocampo took photos of minor girls touching each other sexually at García’s direction, which she sent to him. Such conduct against children is a reason the vulnerable need protecting (Psalm 82:3). The church maintains García’s innocence and has called the $90 million bail inequitable, the report said.

The BBC reported a separate development. It said a US appeals court issued a ruling on Tuesday that the case was dropped. The court found that García should have been granted a hearing within 10 days after new charges, including child pornography, were added, and that this did not occur. The BBC reported that the decision is not final and remains under review by prosecutors.

The BBC also described La Luz del Mundo as a fundamentalist Christian organization founded in 1926 by García’s grandfather, Eusebio Joaquín González. It said García leads a group that claims more than five million members worldwide.

The reports do not agree on the case’s current status. Fox LA describes a guilty plea and sentence, MinistryWatch describes an upcoming trial, and the BBC describes a ruling that the case was dropped and remains under prosecutorial review.