This would be the second process facing Naasón Joaquín García, leader of the religious movement by the California Prosecutor’s Office
The top leader of the Mexican church La Luz del Mundo, Naasón Joaquín García, it was declared this Tuesday not guilty of 36 counts, including sexual abuse, lewd acts against a minor and extortion, in a hearing before the Superior Court of Los Angeles.
Joaquín García answered “not guilty” in Spanish to the question that Judge Ronald Coen asked him today, who established November 12 as the initial date of the trial against the accused.
Two collaborators of his movement, which were also accused of complicity in the crimes, will face separate trials. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 16.
This is about of the second process against the religious leaderafter a first accusation process outside vacated in April by the Second District Court of Appeals due to a technical failure.
Joaquín García was charged again along with Alondra Ocampo and Susana Medina Oaxaca in late July, by the California prosecutor’s office, Xavier Becerra. In the new indictment, the prosecutor’s office cited five victims, including a new one identified as “Jane Doe 5”, who allegedly suffered sexual abuse between February 2016 and November 2017.
At least three of the alleged sexual victims of the leader of the powerful church they are minors, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Joaquín García was set a bond of 90 million dollars, which he has not been able to pay for what he remains in jail.
Both Ocampo and Medina they also pleaded not guilty to the charges. The first continues in jail for not having paid a bond of 10 million dollars, while Medina Oaxaca is under house arrest after posting a bond of 150,000 dollars.
As La Luz del Mundo expressed in a statement on Tuesday, no hard evidence has been presented against their leader, for which he reiterated his confidence that “his innocence will be demonstrated, since we categorically affirm that one thing is to point out and another very different thing is to prove.”
The non-Trinitarian Christian church, which has its international headquarters in Guadalajara, was founded by Aarón (Eusebio) Joaquín in 1926 and is currently present in 60 countries and has up to 5 million followers.
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