By The opinion
25 Oct 2023, 11:46 PM EDT
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted this Wednesday to the leader of the La Luz del Mundo church, Naasón Joaquín García, of two serious crimes related to the sexual abuse of minorsThe US Department of Justice, DOJ, reported this Wednesday.
Joaquín García, 54 years old, He is currently in a California state prison serving a sentence of almost 17 years.after last year he pleaded guilty to 3 of the 19 charges he faced in an accusation by the Californian Prosecutor’s Office for sexual abuse of minors.
The DOJ explained today in a statement that the grand jury indicted Joaquín García for one count of production of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography.
According to the accusation, on May 6, 2019, Joaquín García knowingly persuaded and coerced a minor, who was 16 years old at the time, to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a video.
At least five videos were found on an electronic tablet confiscated from Joaquín García when he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport, on June 3, 2019, by California authorities.
If convicted of both federal charges, Joaquín García would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.. He is expected to be presented in the coming weeks in federal court in Los Angeles.
Despite being imprisoned, Joaquín García remains the leader of the non-Trinitarian Christian church La Luz del Mundo, which has its international headquarters in Guadalajara (Mexico), and was founded in 1926 by Aarón Joaquín, Naasón’s grandfather.
It is currently present in 60 countries and claims to have up to 5 million followers.
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