"However, new filings in Manhattan federal court have alleged that La Luz's patriarchs passed down much more than leadership at the helm of this evangelical megachurch. A recently unsealed indictment charges Naason and five other defendants, including his mother in a sprawling sex-trafficking conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that each generation carried out a deeply disturbing tradition of abuse against vulnerable devotees."
"The defendants engaged in a racketeering enterprise that exploited the LLDM Church and persisted for decades to facilitate the systemic sexual abuse of children and women including the creation of photos and videos of sadistic child sexual abuse, prosecutors said in announcing the charges. Eva Garcia de Joaquin, Samuel's wife and Naason's mother, groomed for her husband's sexual abuse and directly herself sexually abused minors and young women for years, prosecutors also said."
Founded nearly 100 years ago in Guadalajara by Eusebio Aaron Joaquin Gonzalez, La Luz del Mundo passed leadership to his son Samuel in 1964 and to Naason Joaquin Garcia in 2014. The church reportedly operates in all 50 US states and about 50 countries, claiming around 5 million members. A newly unsealed federal indictment charges Naason and five others, including his mother, in a sprawling sex-trafficking conspiracy. Prosecutors allege a multigenerational pattern of sexual abuse and a racketeering enterprise that exploited the church to facilitate systemic sexual abuse of children and women, including creation of sadistic images and videos. Eva Garcia de Joaquin is accused of grooming and directly abusing minors. Naason, serving a California sentence for sexual abuse of minors, pleaded not guilty to the New York charges.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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