Mexican megachurch’s ‘apostle’, family charged with sex trafficking and racketeering in US

Prosecutors in the United States have charged the leaders of Mexican megachurch, La Luz del Mundo Church, with alleged sexual abuse of children and women for decades. They allege that the family behind La Luz del Mundo Church indulged in sex trafficking and racketeering and each generation carried out a “deeply disturbing tradition” of abuse against vulnerable devotees. Since its inception about 100 years ago, La Luz del Mundo Church has been a family affair as it spread from Mexico to the US and around the world. It now operates in all 50 US states and about 50 countries, and boasts of 5 million members worldwide. Eusebio “Aaron” Joaquín Gonzalez, the founder of the Guadalajara-based church, was succeeded by his son, Samuel Joaquín Flores, after his death in 1964. When Samuel died in 2014, his son, Naasón Joaquín García, assumed power.

Filings in the Manhattan federal court allege that La Luz’s patriarchs passed down a “deeply disturbing tradition” of abuse.

A recently unsealed indictment charges Naasón, and five other defendants, including his mother, in a widespread sex trafficking conspiracy.

‘Systemic sexual abuse of children and women’

“The defendants engaged in a racketeering enterprise that exploited the LLDM Church and persisted for decades to facilitate the systemic sexual abuse of children and women—including the creation of photos and videos of sadistic child sexual abuse,” prosecutors said.

Eva García de Joaquín, Samuel’s wife and Naasón’s mother, “groomed for her husband’s sexual abuse and directly herself sexually abused minors and young women” for years, they added.

Naasón, who is serving a state-level sentence in California for the sexual abuse of minors, was brought to New York City on Tuesday to face these charges. He pleaded not guilty.

The alleged culture of abuse started with Aaron and was continued by his descendants. He, Samuel, and Naasón tricked girls and young women by telling them they could get a “special” blessing by serving them, which frequently included sexual activity.

The church leader was known as an “Apostle”. Members were told that the only way for eternal salvation was “to follow the teachings of the Apostle”. They were also warned that “God will punish and eternally damn anyone who doubts the Apostle, fails to follow the Apostle’s teachings, or defies the Apostle.”

Also Read: Row intensifies as Shama Junejo claims PM Shehbaz included her in Pakistan’s UN delegation

‘Apostle’s wife helped identify girls and women for sexual abuse’

Samuel abused girls and women and his actions “served as a model” for Naasón—who is still the church’s Apostle. Naasón’s victims include the daughters of girls and women his father abused, prosecutors allege.

Samuel’s wife, Eva, allegedly helped “to identify girls and women for sexual abuse and to ‘groom’ them … by exploiting their ages and vulnerabilities.”

In one case, Eva “slowly exposed a victim to sexually explicit reading material and pornography, even though it was strictly forbidden according to the church doctrine”. When the girl was around 16, Eva allegedly helped Samuel assault her, prosecutors claim.

The family also allegedly used church coffers as their personal bank. Naasón allegedly used donations on masks, costumes, and sex toys to make child sexual abuse images. He told others to use this money, dubbed “love offerings”, to buy cleaning supplies meant for eliminating evidence of abuse.

WATCH: Breaking: Shooting at Church of Jesus Christ in Michigan, multiple injuries reported

Church members refer to LA home as ‘Versace’ house

The family also used the “love-offerings” to buy “luxury cars, watches, designer clothing, and first-class travel around the world”. They also took advantage of the congregants’ free labour to build a sprawling home in Los Angeles. “The house was adorned with so many luxurious items, such as gold leaf lining the house’s moulding, that LLDM Church members refer to it as the ‘Versace’ house,” prosecutors said.

Also Read: Pakistan defence minister Khawaja Asif fumbles seven times in UNSC speech, gets trolled | Watch

When federal agents searched Naasón and Eva’s adjacent homes on 10 September, they found more wealth—including more than $1 million in US currency as well as Canadian dollars and Euros, besides gold pieces and coins.

Eva’s house even had a “trap door underneath a bed” which led to an underground area with a safe that contained $220,000 and jewellery. Witnesses told authorities that there are hundreds of thousands in US dollars “hidden beneath” La Luz’s churches in Mexico.

Naasón and Eva both face charges that carry a maximum life sentence, including racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking conspiracy. Alan Jackson, Naasón’s defense lawyer in Los Angeles, previously told NPR, “We categorically deny these charges.”