BEAST OF GOD
Inside sick world of La Luz del Mundo’s Naasón Joaquín García – ‘The Apostle’ priest who groomed girls into sex slavery
A MEGACHURCH priest who enjoyed a billionaire's luxury jet-set lifestyle has been jailed for grooming and abusing young girls.
Naasón Joaquín García - known as The Apostle to his five million followers - pleaded guilty to assaulting three underage victims who said he made them his sex slaves.
5
5
The evil Mexican pastor, 53, was jailed for 16 years and eight months after a last-minute deal with prosecutors in Los Angeles.
Furious victims accused officials of "negotiating with this rapist" after he dodged a trial and potential life sentence.
The sentence came after three hours of emotional statements by five young women who called García "a monster", "disgusting human waste" and "the antichrist".
One identified as Jane Doe 4 told a judge: "I worshipped my abuser. He used me over and over again like a sacrificial lamb taken to slaughter."
read more on megachurches
The predator, in an orange jail jumpsuit, refused to look at his victims as they spoke and said nothing as he was led away in shackles.
Judge Ronald Coen said his hands were tied by the plea deal but assured the weeping victims: "The world has heard you. I promise you that."
He added: "I never cease to be amazed at what people do in the name of religion and how many lives are ruined in the guise of a supreme being."
García - who styles himself as God's apostle on earth - is the head of La Luz del Mundo megachurch with a congregation of five million in 50 countries including many in California's Hispanic population.
Most read in US News
He took over from his father Samuel Joaquín Flores, the self-styled Apostle for 50 years until his death in 2014.
Flores himself faced decades of sex abuse allegations but was never prosecuted in Mexico - where leading politicians are members of the powerful church.
It was founded in 1926 by García's grandfather Aaron Joaquín, who claimed he'd had a vision from God and called his group "the light of the world".
The church preaches fundamentalist Christianity and imposes strict limits on women - who are forced to wear veils and submit to their husbands.
Over the last century the family has built a huge mini city in a suburb of Guadalajara with a towering temple at the centre - the church's very own Vatican City.
They also built a series of other temples around the world festooned with massive busts of the Joaquín family.
Meanwhile they allegedly became enormously rich, enjoying a lavish lifestyle funded by donations and free labor of worshippers.
'Gift from God'
One woman in the US who sued for sexual abuse said she had given 30,000 hours of free work to the church.
Sochil Martin, now 35, said she was groomed and abused from the age of nine and told it was a "gift from God".
Other alleged victims were handed over by their own parents who believed it was a "blessing" to be raped by Flores and García.
His downfall came in 2019 when he was arrested after stepping off a private jet at Los Angeles airport.
He was charged with child rapes and human trafficking relating to brainwashed girls who were groomed and abused in California.
Sickening videos on confiscated phones and iPads allegedly showed sex acts with children and even incest between family members.
García denied all wrongdoing but copped a plea deal last week after his accomplice Alondra Ocampo agreed to testify against him.
Prosecutors say Ocampo, who lives in Los Angeles, groomed the victims for García to abuse over several years.
Her lawyer said she herself was raped for many years by García's father, and she later agreed to become a recruiter of sex slaves.
He compared her to Ghislaine Maxwell, the society heiress who trafficked girls for millionaire monster Jeffrey Epstein.
Read More On The Sun
Despite his guilty plea, La Luz del Mundo last night praised García's "integrity, his conduct and his work".
A statement claimed evidence was fabricated and he only accepted the deal "as the best way to protect the church and his family".
READ MORE SUN STORIES
5
5
5
Topics