In a sobering revelation from the Southern District of New York, Naasón Joaquín García, along with five others, were charged with running a criminal empire that leveraged the La Luz Del Mundo (LLDM) Church to commit a litany of crimes, including sex trafficking and child exploitation. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, joined by officials from Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, announced the indictment unsealing which brought these allegations to light.
García, who was previously serving a state sentence in California, was taken into federal custody. Arrests also spread across the nation, reaching Los Angeles and Chicago, as alleged in an official statement from the Department of Justice. While these actions represent judicial strides, three accused conspirators remain at large, believed to be in Mexico. The U.S. government intends to pursue their extradition.
In what attorney Jay Clayton has described, they exploited the trust and faith of the LLDM Church faithful over many years, wielding religion as a tool to manipulate and victimize. In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Clayton emphasized the gravity of these charges, emphasizing the courage shown by the victims who came forward.
Ricky J. Patel, the HSI Special Agent in Charge, hailed the survivors' bravery, which was key to today's charges. The relentless cycle of alleged victimization by defendants, who targeted individuals steeped in blind devotion, is poised to end with this indictment, as Patel pointed out in a statement announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The indictment details a sordid abuse of authority, where generations of church leaders, starting with García's grandfather and continuing with his father before him, sexually assaulted their congregants. This dark legacy involved manipulation and grooming of minors and young women, some of whom faced pressure to maintain silence after García's 2019 arrest for related offenses. IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis, Jr. stressed the contrast between the enterprise's façade as a legitimate religious operation and its hidden criminal activities in an alleged statement.
The ongoing investigation beckons more victims or those with information concerning the defendants' alleged crimes to come forward. The announcement reaffirms the presumption of innocence for the indicted until proven guilty.
