On September 10, 2025, federal authorities unsealed a sweeping indictment against Naasón Joaquín García, the 56-year-old leader of the Mexico-based megachurch La Luz del Mundo, his 79-year-old mother Eva García de Joaquín, and four close associates. The charges—racketeering, sex trafficking, and child pornography—are the result of a yearslong investigation that spanned continents and drew on the testimony of dozens of survivors. The indictment paints a harrowing picture: for nearly a century, prosecutors say, the García family and their trusted inner circle used their spiritual authority to systematically abuse women and children, leveraging faith as both shield and weapon.
García, already serving a 16-year, 8-month sentence in California for state sex abuse charges following a 2022 plea deal, was transferred to federal custody as the new charges were announced. His mother, Eva García de Joaquín, was arrested in Los Angeles the same day. The other defendants include Joram Núñez Joaquín, a law school graduate and relative, Silem García Peña, who led the church’s public relations arm, and two women—Rosa Sosa and Azalia Rangel García—accused of grooming and abusing minors and young women. According to NPR, Núñez Joaquín was arrested near Chicago, while the other three remain at large, believed to be in Mexico.
La Luz del Mundo, which translates to "The Light of the World," claims a global following of more than 6 million across 60 countries, with significant holdings in the United States, including a large Los Angeles church and residences. Followers consider their leader to be the "apostle" of Jesus Christ, a direct conduit to the divine. According to The Associated Press, this spiritual sway became a tool for manipulation: prosecutors allege that girls and young women were told that submitting to García’s advances would lead to their salvation—or, if they refused, their eternal damnation.
But the indictment goes further, alleging a multigenerational pattern of abuse stretching back to the church’s founder, Aarón Joaquin Gonzalez, and perpetuated by his son, Samuel Joaquín Flores (García’s late father), and now García himself. Court documents state that relatives and employees aided the leaders, facilitating rape, forced incest, and what prosecutors describe as "sadistic sexual rituals for [García’s] sexual gratification." In one particularly chilling allegation, Eva García de Joaquín is accused of holding down a minor victim so that her late husband, Samuel, could rape the child. Survivors say that in many cases, girls and women abused by one leader remained in the church and became the mothers of the next leader’s victims.
Prosecutors claim the abuse was not confined to Mexico or the United States. Victims as young as 13 were trafficked internationally—to Asia, Europe, Africa, and beyond—sometimes used to help smuggle money as well as to satisfy the leaders’ sexual demands. The indictment also details the creation and distribution of child pornography, forced labor, illegal cash transactions, and efforts to obstruct justice. After García’s initial arrest, according to the indictment reviewed by the BBC, defendants tried to destroy evidence and pressured victims to sign false declarations denying any abuse. Church doctrine was weaponized: sermons were drafted stating that all sexual abuse victims were lying, and members were told that doubting the apostle was a sin punishable by eternal damnation.
As the investigation unfolded, law enforcement conducted searches of the García family’s two adjoining homes in East Los Angeles. According to NPR, officers discovered over $1 million in cash, numerous gold coins, luxury watches, and jewelry. In García’s mother’s home, they found a trapdoor under a bed, leading to an underground compartment with a built-in safe. Inside: stacks of cash totaling around $220,000, more jewelry, a jade-wrapped USB drive, and gold coins. Prosecutors say the family had “access to vast internationally accessible wealth.” The indictment seeks the forfeiture of three Los Angeles homes and a rural property in San Bernardino County, California.
The church’s leadership, according to documentary filmmaker Jennifer Tiexiera, wields "extreme" power over its members. In the HBO documentary Unveiled: Surviving La Luz del Mundo, Tiexiera described meeting many churchgoers intent on religious service, but emphasized that "it’s not the membership that’s wholly corrupt. It’s the hierarchy. And that breaks my heart." Sochil Martin, a former church member who has assisted authorities, told NPR that victims are often ostracized and threatened with violence if they speak out. "It is the mafia. That’s what it is," Martin said. "And it’s disguised as a church."
The legal battle is set to play out in the Southern District of New York under District Judge Loretta Preska, who has previously overseen high-profile sex-trafficking cases, including those related to Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, announcing the charges, stated, "They exploited the faith of their followers to prey upon them. When they were confronted, they leveraged their religious influence and financial power to intimidate and coerce victims into remaining silent about the abuse they had suffered." Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge at Homeland Security Investigations, credited a "yearslong investigation that spanned the country and involved the support of dozens of courageous victims." He encouraged others with information to come forward, emphasizing that the investigation is ongoing.
Despite the gravity of the charges and the mountain of evidence described by prosecutors, García and his legal team maintain his innocence. "We categorically deny these charges," García’s defense attorney Alan Jackson said in a statement to NPR. "We reject the grotesque portrait painted by the government and its allies." Jackson characterized the allegations as part of a "reckless campaign of government overreach" driven by disgruntled former members and predicted that his client would be vindicated in court.
For survivors, however, the unsealing of the indictment is a long-awaited measure of justice. Martin, the former member, shared that her aunt—herself a survivor—felt a sense of vindication upon learning of Eva García de Joaquín’s arrest. "Even though Samuel left this world and didn’t pay his debt to society and to the kids that he abused, at least his wife is now living to see that day. And that’s a form of justice for a lot of survivors," Martin told NPR.
As the case moves forward, the world is watching. The charges against La Luz del Mundo’s leadership have sent shockwaves through its global congregation and reignited debate about the dangers of unchecked religious authority. For many, the hope is that the courage of those who spoke out will help ensure such abuses never happen again within these walls—or anywhere else.
