Who is Naasón Joaquín García and what is La Luz del Mundo Church? What you should know

García's followers: we are sure of his honor 3:19

(CNN Spanish) --

Naasón Joaquín García, the leader of La Luz del Mundo Church, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse of minors on June 3.

This Wednesday, García was sentenced to a sentence of 16 years and 8 months in prison.

Garcia was facing charges for alleged conspiracy to commit human trafficking, alleged conspiracy to commit human trafficking for the production of child pornography, and alleged rape of a minor, among others.

The story of the capture, trial and conviction of Naasón Joaquín García

García was arrested in June 2019 in Los Angeles for the crimes that would have been committed between 2015 and 2018 while Naasón Joaquín García was the spiritual leader of La Luz del Mundo.

• Naasón Joaquín García, leader of La Luz del Mundo, will remain behind bars without right to bail

The apostle of La Luz del Mundo had been arrested in June 2019, at the Los Angeles International Airport, along with two of his assistants, Susana Medina Oaxaca and Alondra Ocampo.

Since then, Medina and Garcia have been held in a Los Angeles County jail.

Garcia was set on $90 million bond, the highest bond ever posted in California.

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For his part, Medina pleaded guilty to assault with a likelihood of causing great bodily harm, according to the Bonta district attorney's office.

Ocampo also pleaded guilty to three serious counts of contact with a minor for the purpose of committing sexual offenses and one count of forcible sexual penetration, according to official reports.

The court will sentence you at a later date.

García was sentenced this Wednesday to a sentence of 16 years and 8 months in prison for various charges of sexual abuse against three minors.

• The leader of La Luz del Mundo Church, Naasón Joaquín García, pleads guilty to three counts of sexual abuse of minors

"Today's sentence for Naasón Joaquín García is a fundamental step towards justice," California State Attorney Rob Bonta said in a statement: "While it will never repair the damage and trauma he caused as leader of La Luz del Mundo , this ruling makes it clear that abusers, no matter who they are, will be held accountable.”

The La Luz del Mundo church reiterated its support for Garcia.

"He will continue to minister to the church from where he is," he said in a statement.

And he concludes: "Our trust in him remains intact with the full knowledge of his integrity, his conduct and his work."

Who is Naasón Joaquín García, called the apostle?

Garcia was born on May 7, 1969, in Guadalajara, Mexico, according to the official website of La Luz del Mundo church.

He is the international president of the church, has been married since 1992 and has three children.

Garcia started as a youth leader for the church in Guadalajara when he was 14 years old.

"During that period he was sent as a missionary to Spain and Portugal, nations where he was just beginning the evangelistic work," says the church's website.

Garcia worked as a minister in various parts of the United States, becoming a deacon in 1994 and a pastor in 2000.

García's followers: we are sure of his honor 3:19

According to prosecutor Becerra, the spiritual leader, together with the other defendants, allegedly forced his victims to perform sexual acts under his position as "the apostle" and if they refused, they were told that they were going against the will of God.

In 2014, García became the apostle after the death of his father, Samuel Joaquín Flores.

Since then "a universal missionary tour has begun to travel and preach in the countries, cities and towns where the Church has a presence and to be able to extend it to all humanity, since one of the premises it preaches is that the Gospel is inclusive and does not make exceptions. of languages, races or nationalities," states the church's website.

García was the center of a controversy in Mexico when a senator requested the use of the Palace of Fine Arts to hold an event related to the organization La Luz del Mundo.

This caused indignation among the population to such an extent that the government had to come out to clarify the situation.

The Light of the World Church: "The restoration of the Church that Jesus Christ founded"

The church of Naasón Joaquín García assures that it has a presence in 58 countries and more than 15,000 temples.

They claim to be "the restoration of the Church that Jesus Christ founded in the first century of our era, with the mission of announcing the good news of salvation to all people."

It was founded in 1926, reported Notimex, by Eusebio Joaquín González.

In Guadalajara, in the Hermosa Provincia neighborhood, is the international headquarters of the church.

There, from 1967 to 1969, the temple was built that was considered "one of the most avant-garde" of the time in the region, according to Notimex.

In this neighborhood live exclusively members of the church.

Prosecutor reiterates charges against evangelical pastor 3:23

In the images of the church events, women and men are usually seen separated in the temple, and the women mostly wear a dress uniform and a mantilla for the head.

In a February 2019 interview with the Mexican newspaper El Informador, Eliezer Gutiérrez, minister of La Luz del Mundo, said that it was false that women were forced to wear skirts, since he said it was voluntary.

Gutiérrez also gave the church's version on several issues: he denied that members were forced to live in the Hermosa Provincia neighborhood, that they could not marry someone outside the congregation and that they could not play sports.

The most important festivity of the La Luz del Mundo Church is from August 7 to 15, the Holy Convocation, and is celebrated annually in the Guadalajara temple.

According to the official website of the church, hundreds of thousands of faithful participate in the celebration