A federal judge has ordered prosecutors to reopen the Mexican case against convicted child sex offender Naason Joaquín García who is serving a 16-year, eight-month prison sentence in California.
Judge Juan José Rodríguez, based in the Puente Grande Prison Courtroom in the state of Jalisco, on Monday revoked the December decision by the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) not to file criminal charges against Joaquín in relation to the case of Sóchil Martín.
The FGR must now reopen the case against the former leader of the Luz del Mundo Church, which is headquartered in Guadalajara, western Mexico.
Earlier this month, President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters that Attorney General Ernestina Godoy supported reopening the case that her predecessor, Alejandro Gertz, shelved.
Sochil Martín and her husband, Sharim Guzmán, also accuse Joaquín and his church of money laundering, human trafficking, sexual exploitation and child pornography.
An initial hearing to reopen the case was held on April 16, but Judge Rodríguez paused it until Monday so that prosecutors and the defense could further study the 2,500 pages in the case file.
With the reopening of the investigation, “the victims and their representatives will push for a thorough investigation against all members of the criminal organization formed by the leaders of La Luz del Mundo,” Martín’s legal team said in a statement.
In June 2022, Joaquín pleaded guilty in California to three counts of child sexual abuse, thus avoiding 19 additional criminal charges, including sexual assault of minors, possession of child pornography and human trafficking.
Last September, Joaquín pleaded not guilty to charges brought against him by a U.S. district attorney’s office in New York. Among the charges were organized crime conspiracy, sex trafficking and child exploitation of members of his church. Five other defendants — including his mother Eva García de Joaquín and his nephew Joram Núñez Joaquín— were included in the indictment.
Family of Naasón Joaquín García, leader of La Luz del Mundo, charged with sex trafficking
Prosecutors allege that Joaquín followed “a deeply disturbing tradition established by his father (Samuel Joaquín Flores) and his grandfather (Eusebio Joaquín González), who founded the church in Guadalajara around 1926.”
Counsel for the defense rejected the charges against Joaquín — known in the church as “God’s Apostle on Earth” — as “unfounded, false, and slanderous” and accused prosecutors of “twisting the law.”
The Luz del Mundo Church boasts nearly 2 million followers in Mexico and another 3 million around the world.
With reports from El Financiero, 24 Horas, La Jornada, Infobae, SDP Noticias and BBC
