This picture taken on August 9, 2017 shows the leader of the Church of the Light of the World, Naason Joaquin Garcia, walking among his parishioners in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The leader of a prominent Christian megachurch pleaded guilty to multiple child sexual abuse charges on earlier this week.
Naasón Joaquín García, 53, admitted to two counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and one count of a lewd act upon a child who was 15 in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Garcia styles himself as the “apostle” of the Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth, The Light of the World, which claims membership in excess of five million throughout the United States and dozens of other countries. He was indicted by the California Attorney General’s Office on sex trafficking charges and arrested in the summer of 2019.
The church is based in Mexico.
While initially held on $50 million bail, his attorneys claimed — in a bid to lessen the amount — their client was “framed” by women connected to “disgruntled former church members” and that he was actually “the victim of a concerted conspiracy to frame and extort him.”
Those efforts did not yield the desired results.
The defendant is currently jailed on $90 million bail.
“Today’s conviction sends a clear message that sexual exploitation is never acceptable in California,” Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said in a statement. “We will hold you accountable if you break the law. As the leader of La Luz del Mundo, Naasón Joaquín García used his power to take advantage of children. He relied on those around him to groom congregants for the purposes of sexual assault.”
In October 2020, co-defendant,…