Religious leader pleads guilty to sexually abusing minors
Mexican Naason Joaquin Garcia, leader of the Christian cult “The Light of the World”, has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three underage girls in California.
Naason Joaquin Garcia in a Los Angeles court on July 15, 2019.
AFP
Naason Joaquin Garcia, leader of a Christian cult founded in Mexico, “The Light of the World”, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three underage girls in California, the prosecutor of this American state announced on Friday.
Naason Joaquin Garcia, 53, was arrested for crimes committed between 2015 and 2018 when he was head of “The Light of the World”, an international religious organization headquartered in Mexico that claims more than one million followers worldwide.
The leader and two co-defendants, who also pleaded guilty to abusing underage girls, were accused of forcing the victims to perform sexual acts by telling them that “if they went once morest the wishes or wishes of the ”Apostle””, title given to Garcia, “they were opposed to God”.
“Used of his power”
After the arrest of Naason Joaquin Garcia, the organization “The light of the world” had “categorically denied” the accusations made once morest its “international president”.
But the latter concluded an agreement on Friday to “plead guilty” and as such he was formally sentenced for acts of rape on two minors and a case of sexual assault on a child aged fifteen at the time, indicates California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
“As the leader of the Light of the World, Naason Joaquin Garcia used his power to abuse children. He relied on those around him to groom worshipers for sexual assault,” Rob Bonta said. The trial of Naason Joaquin Garcia and the two co-defendants was to open Monday in Los Angeles. All three should be fixed next week on their sentence.
Posted today at 02:28
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