Judge Ronald S. Coen of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County determined on Tuesday that there was enough evidence to proceed with the trial against Naasón Joaquín García , leader of the La Luz del Mundo church.
García was charged with 36 criminal charges by the California prosecutor's office on July 29, including for the crimes of rape of a minor, forced oral copulation, extortion, sexual relations with a minor, human trafficking and possession of child pornography .
The leader of the Guadalajara, Mexico-based church had previously been indicted by the California prosecution. However, the court decided to dismiss those first charges and not proceed with the trial last April due to judicial errors.
Naasón Joaquín García, the leader of a Mexico-based evangelical church with a worldwide membership of more than 1 million appeared at a bail review hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court.AFP via Getty Images
Garcia, who calls himself an 'apostle of Jesus Christ', has remained in jail since his arrest on June 3, 2019 in Los Angeles. His defense has repeatedly argued that the prolonged stay without a trial violates his right to due process.
The indictment is scheduled for September 1 at 8:30 a.m. local time, when the prosecution will officially present the charges against the accused and he must plead guilty or not guilty.
Cohen also ruled that bail will remain at $ 90 million , an unprecedented amount in Los Angeles County that was set at the Aug. 6 hearing, after considering the seriousness of the allegations against Garcia and the danger of leakage.
["Being raped by two men from La Luz del Mundo is a trauma that I will never overcome"]
"There is substantial evidence that the release of the person would result in serious harm to others , " Judge Lomelí said during that hearing earlier this month.
The bail of the leader of the church La Luz del Mundo is raised to 90 million dollars after new accusations
Aug. 7, 202000: 33Garcia was charged with three dozen felonies. Susana Medina Oaxaca and Alondra Ocampo were also charged .
Among the crimes awarded to García are those of rape of a minor, forced oral copulation, extortion, sexual relations with a minor, human trafficking and possession of child pornography.
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Ocampo's bail was reduced from $ 25 million to $ 10 million. Oaxaca will remain under house arrest after paying $ 150,000 to the court.
The prosecution maintains that the three committed sexual crimes and produced child pornography with five women and girls who were part of the congregation. The alleged crimes occurred between 2015 and 2018 in Los Angeles County, according to authorities.
They ask for the case of La Luz del Mundo in Mexico to be expedited
Aug. 18, 202000: 56All three have pleaded not guilty and claim they are the victims of a plot by dissidents from their church.
In the new charges, García and Ocampo are accused of committing a lewd act on a 15-year-old girl. Garcia touched the minor in her office, according to authorities.
According to the prosecution, in one case, Ocampo asked a group of minors to remove their clothes and sexually touch each other to send photographs to García.
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The two are accused of raping and practicing forced oral sex on a second girl . All three are accused of forced oral sex with a third minor. García was also charged with allegedly raping two other minors. Ocampo was involved in a rape, authorities said. Oaxaca is charged with two counts of raping a minor.
García is the spiritual leader of La Luz del Mundo , an evangelical Christian church based in Guadalajara, Jalisco, founded by his grandfather and which claims to have five million followers around the world.
