{"id":46881,"date":"2025-09-10T18:25:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/mexican-megachurch-leader-indicted-on-federal-sex-trafficking-charges-in-new-york\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:25:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:25:42","slug":"mexican-megachurch-leader-indicted-on-federal-sex-trafficking-charges-in-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/mexican-megachurch-leader-indicted-on-federal-sex-trafficking-charges-in-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexican megachurch leader indicted on federal sex trafficking charges in New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p>A megachurch leader has been federally charged for allegedly victimizing members of the Mexico-based church for decades, authorities announced Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Naas\u00f3n Joaqu\u00edn Garc\u00eda, 56, is already serving more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young followers. The federal charges against him include counts of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking, the U.S. Attorney for New York&#8217;s southern district said\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdny\/pr\/naason-joaquin-garcia-charged-racketeering-conspiracy-sex-trafficking-and-child\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">in a news release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>A federal grand jury in New York <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-sdny\/media\/1413726\/dl?inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">returned the indictment<\/a> alleging that Garc\u00eda and five others exploited the church for decades to enable the systemic sexual abuse of children and women for the sexual gratification of Garc\u00eda and his father, who died in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>The newly unsealed indictment said the criminal activity included the creation of photos and videos of child sexual abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Garc\u00eda was taken into federal custody early Wednesday in Chino, California, where he is serving a more than 16-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2022 to two state counts.<\/p>\n<p>His lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Garc\u00eda is the head of La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World), which claims to have 5 million followers worldwide. Believers consider him to be the &#8220;apostle&#8221; of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors in California have said that he used his spiritual sway to have sex with girls and young women who were told it would lead to their salvation \u2014 or damnation if they refused.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The defendants and their coconspirators used the LLDM Church as a vehicle to commit sex trafficking of women and children; to induce victims, including children, to travel to engage in forced and unlawful sex acts; to produce, receive, distribute, and possess child pornography; to employ forced labor of Church members; to illegally structure cash transactions and bulk cash smuggling; and to obstruct justice to hide their crimes,&#8221; the indictment said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/10\/4c4c8804-af48-4cea-9d16-b19afd312856\/thumbnail\/620x413g2\/1ed35095191abe5576d2533e27cfe2d8\/ap25253459916182.jpg#\" alt=\"US--Mexican Church Leader-Racketeering \" height=\"413\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/10\/4c4c8804-af48-4cea-9d16-b19afd312856\/thumbnail\/620x413g2\/1ed35095191abe5576d2533e27cfe2d8\/ap25253459916182.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2025\/09\/10\/4c4c8804-af48-4cea-9d16-b19afd312856\/thumbnail\/1240x826g2\/a9dc852af687910743e12df1954d1ac4\/ap25253459916182.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">Naas\u00f3n Joaqu\u00edn Garc\u00eda, the leader of a Mexico-based evangelical church with a worldwide membership, attends a bail review hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 15, 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Al Seib\/Los Angeles Times via AP<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Besides Garc\u00eda, one defendant charged in the case was taken into custody in Los Angeles while another was arrested in Chicago, authorities said. Three others were at large.<\/p>\n<p>According to the indictment, two of the defendants and others tried to destroy evidence and prevent victims of the sexual abuse from speaking to law enforcement after Garc\u00eda was arrested.<\/p>\n<p>It said they pressured victims to sign false declarations disclaiming that any abuse occurred, drafted and distributed sermons stating that all sexual abuse victims were lying and reinforced church doctrine that doubting the apostle was a sin punishable by eternal damnation.<\/p>\n<p>In a release, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said Garc\u00eda and the others &#8220;exploited the faith of their followers to prey upon them.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He added: &#8220;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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ricky J. Patel, the head of the New York office of Homeland Security Investigations, said the charges resulted from a &#8220;yearslong investigation that spanned the country and involved the support of dozens of courageous victims.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>    <!-- tags --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/mexican-megachurch-leader-indicted-sex-trafficking-charges-new-york\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A megachurch leader has been federally charged for allegedly victimizing members of the Mexico-based church for decades, authorities announced Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[283,1228,3100,526,979,1451,1132,2233],"class_list":["post-46881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us","tag-california","tag-crime","tag-human-trafficking","tag-indictment","tag-new-york","tag-prison","tag-religion","tag-sexual-assault"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - 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