Church leader found guilty of sexually abusing 3 children

Church leader found guilty of sexually abusing 3 children. 

A religious leader in Mexico has admitted to sexually assaulting three minors.

California state prosecutors revealed on Friday that the leader of a Mexico-based church pleaded guilty to felony charges of sexually assaulting three minors.

According to the California attorney general’s office statement, Nasson Joaquin Garcia, the leader and self-styled apostle of the Guadalajara-based church La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World), filed a guilty plea three days before his trial was about to begin.

Garcia’s sentencing has been set for next Wednesday. Prosecutors said he might face up to 16 years and eight months in jail.

Garcia’s conviction brings to a close an investigation that began in 2018 and culminated in his arrest at Los Angeles International Airport the following year with a co-defendant, Susana Medina Oaxaca, who pleaded guilty on Friday to a charge of assault likely to cause great bodily harm, according to the attorney general’s office.

Garcia admitted to two charges of forceful oral copulation involving kids and one count of child lewdness. Prosecutors claimed the allegations resulted from the mistreatment of three minors.

Alondra Ocampo, a second co-defendant, was arrested in 2019 and pled guilty to three felony charges of contact with a juvenile to commit a sexual assault and one count of forceful sexual penetration in 2020.

Garcia, Oaxaca, and Ocampo were charged with 36 felonies, including rape, human trafficking, and child pornography. 

However, in exchange for the defendants’ guilty pleas, the bulk of the charges were withdrawn.

According to authorities, Azalea Rangel Melendez, a fourth person involved in the investigation, is still at large.

With branches in 50 countries and around 5 million members, La Luz del Mundo is Mexico’s biggest evangelical church, going back to the 1920s.

When a Los Angeles court ordered Garcia to face trial in August 2020, the church published a statement supporting its leader, claiming the accusations against him were based on “unsubstantiated anonymous claims” and “blatant hearsay,” according to the statement.