On several occasions, García would sexually abuse the women, including, but not limited to, kissing, fondling and sexually touching those who were minors, according to the complaint.
García instructed Ocampo, Oaxaca and Rangel as well as other La Luz del Mundo ministers to “further indoctrinate and brainwash” the women “by any means necessary,” such as reminding them of García’s “unfettered power” and the “catastrophic consequences” of denying his wishes, attorneys allege in the lawsuit.
Bible verses and Scripture were routinely used and manipulated to underscore García’s power and authority over the women, according to the suit.
“When somebody experiences trauma … we pray that our souls and our foundational beliefs are still intact, and what these women have really experienced is that their trauma was rooted in their beliefs,” said Rochelle Guiton, one of the attorneys representing the Jane Does.
The lawsuit follows García’s sentencing three months ago to nearly 17 years in prison after he pled guilty to two counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and one count of a lewd act upon a child who was 15. Under this plea bargain, prosecutors dropped other allegations of raping children and women, as well as human trafficking to produce child pornography.
Naasón Joaquín García greets members of his church, La Luz del Mundo, in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Aug. 14, 2018. García pleaded guilty June 3, 2022, to sexually abusing three girls, California state prosecutors said. (AP Photo/File)
Yedidsion called the plea deal “inadequate” and said they filed the lawsuit “to be able to achieve the justice I believe they were wronged of in the criminal case.”
Headquartered in the Catholic stronghold of Guadalajara, Mexico, the tight-knit Mexico-based Pentecostal movement claims 5 million worldwide followers. La Luz del Mundo temples can be found across the United States, with several in Southern California, predominantly in working-class Latino communities such as East Los Angeles, Huntington Park and San Bernardino.
La Luz del Mundo was founded in 1926 by García’s grandfather, Eusebio Joaquín González. The church rejects the concept of the Trinity and teaches that Jesus is God’s son and that church leaders, like García, his father and grandfather, are his apostles.
In 2020, an ex-member sued the church and more than a dozen of its leaders, alleging decades of abuse at the hands of the group’s leaders. García’s father was the subject of child sex abuse allegations in 1997, but authorities in Mexico never filed criminal charges.
Followers of La Luz del Mundo don’t celebrate Christmas or Easter, but they do recognize the birthdays of García and the other apostles.
At the news conference on Monday, two other women, who, attorneys said, are victims of García’s father, Samuel Joaquín Flores, expressed solidarity with the five women in the lawsuit. Yedidsion said they are planning to file a lawsuit on their behalf and urged any other victims of the church to come forward.
Andy Rubenstein, an attorney representing the Jane Does, said the goal of the lawsuit is to “compensate our clients and make them whole.”
“What was the value of what was taken from them? … They destroyed lives, they hijacked their faith and they lived under constant fear,” Rubenstein said.
This article originally appeared here.
