Mexican church leader held on $50mn bail in rape, child porn case

The head of a Mexican-based church, which claims over 1 million followers worldwide, was ordered held on $50 million bail in a Los Angeles court on Wednesday on charges that included human trafficking, child pornography and rape of a minor.

Naasón Joaquín Garcia, 50, and co-defendants Alondra Ocampo, Azalea Rangel Melendez and Susana Medina Oaxaca — all of whom are affiliated with the religious organization headquartered in the Mexican city of Guadalajara — are alleged to have committed 26 felonies, including human trafficking, production of child pornography and forcible rape of a minor, in Los Angeles County between 2015 and 2018.

In court Wednesday, Garcia’s attorney, Dmitry Gorin, argued that the bail was unreasonably high because there were only four alleged victims and Garcia wasn’t accused of “stranger-on-stranger rape.”

La Luz Del Mundo (Light of the World) church leader, Garcia was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, prosecutors said.

The church, which considers Garcia to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, called the accusations unfounded.

“The Apostle of Jesus Christ, Brother Naason Joaquin Garcia, has always behaved in accordance with the law and with full respect for the institutions and the dignity of the people,” it said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.

A 19-page complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, says three minors and one adult woman were abused, with one child and the woman raped. Others were forced to perform sex acts and dances for Garcia wearing “as little clothing as possible”, the complaint added.

Girls were told that if they defied Garcia’s desires “they were going against god”, the complaint says.

The victims were not named.

Internet sites say the church has between 1 million and 5 million followers worldwide in more than 50 countries including many followers in the United States.

The church’s roots go back to the 1920s in Mexico, and adheres to nontrinitarianism, rejecting a mainstream Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity. It says it adheres to the earliest doctrines of the Christian church teachings.