The legal problems of Naasón Joaquín García continue to grow. Another young Californian woman assures that the pastor sexually abused her in her house in Guadalajara in 2018, after a religious event.
A young woman from California has broken her silence to file a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles in which she claims that she was the victim of Naasón Joaquín García, leader of the La Luz del Mundo church, who is in prison in this city awaiting trial for accusations that he sexually assaulted girls from his evangelical congregation based in Guadalajara, Mexico.
She is the seventh woman in California to denounce the so-called 'Apostle of Jesus Christ', including the five young women on whose testimonies the criminal case taking place in Los Angeles Superior Court is based and Sochil Martin, who filed a complaint in court angel federal.
In her civil suit, the young woman identified by the initials H.F. She narrates that she met Naasón Joaquín when she was nine years old and went with his family to a temple in San Diego, on the border between California and Mexico. The church taught him from his childhood that the only representatives of God on Earth were the Joaquins and that "salvation can only be obtained by following the Apostle." At that time, the cult was governed by Samuel Joaquín Flores, father of the current leader.
"When she was a child, the plaintiff and her older sister met (Naasón Joaquín) García and they met García's daughter," describes the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by Univision News.
Already in his teens, Naasón Joaquín, Bishop Silverio Coronado and other members of the church told H.F. and other minors who "had been chosen to serve the Apostle and who would be prepared to be part of a special and exclusive group of girls and young women at the service of the Apostle," the lawsuit mentions.
Her testimony coincides with the alleged modus operandi within the church that investigators from the California Attorney General's Office and Sochil Martin have described in several interviews with this medium.
“Once Garcia assumed leadership of La Luz del Mundo and named himself 'Apostle,' Plaintiff continued to be informed that it was an honor to serve the 'Apostle,' and that her salvation depended on her doing what the 'Apostle ' tidied him up and made him happy," the suit continues.
The “abuse” in the Holy Supper
By August 2018, when she was 20 years old, the young woman was selected to attend the Holy Supper, the most important celebration of the congregation that takes place in Guadalajara. She claims that Coronado, who was a bishop in the San Diego temple, and other members of the church in that city arranged for her to travel to Jalisco "to care for Garcia as part of the special and exclusive group."
Once at the church headquarters, on August 9 of that year, HF's older sister took her to Naasón Joaquín's bedroom, in a luxurious three-story house located next to the main temple, in the Hermosa neighborhood. Province.
“Once in the bedroom, the plaintiff was forced to engage in sexual acts with Garcia and her own sister. Plaintiff did not consent to her or have any capacity to consent to her at the time because her participation in the sexual acts was compelled by coercion, threat, fraud, and force,” the complaint states.
Orgies involving relatives and the 'Apostle' have also been described by prosecutors and Martin.
The alleged abuse to the detriment of HF occurred ten months before Naasón Joaquín was arrested upon arrival at the Los Angeles airport. This pastor faces 19 charges of sexual abuse of minors, child pornography, rape and other crimes. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin on May 9.
HF's lawsuit alleges that she was a victim of sexual assault, intentional distress, neglect, and gender-based violence. It directly accuses the church, its leader, Bishop Coronado, and 100 members, businesses, and entities of the congregation (whose names are not mentioned) that "had actual knowledge that Garcia was a sexual predator and a danger to the plaintiff and others." .
“Knowledge of Garcia's predatory behavior included, among others, that Garcia participated in the coercion of forcing adult and minor victims to perform sexual acts with Garcia from 2015 to 2018, for which Garcia is currently in custody and facing multiple charges. for felony charges in Angeles County Superior Court,” the lawsuit states.
Bishop Silverio Coronado
This legal action indicates that Naasón Joaquín, Coronado and other members of La Luz del Mundo had “the duty to protect the health and safety” of HF and other girls, but they did not do so.
“At all times, Defendants' employees, agents, consultants, pastors, executives and managers knew or should have known that Garcia was engaging in unlawful sexual misconduct against parishioners and did nothing to protect parishioners, including applicant".
The complainant HF now lives in Orange County and her lawyers filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles because Joaquín García is located there. She demanded that another trial be held in which a jury will review the evidence in her case and decide whether the pastor is innocent or guilty.
According to his complaint, which requires financial compensation not yet established, HF "has suffered and continues to suffer great mental and bodily pain, shock, emotional anguish, physical manifestations of emotional anguish that include shame, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, humiliation and loss of enjoyment of life. All this has prevented him from carrying out daily activities and he has lost economic income. In addition to that he has spent on medical and psychological treatments.
La Luz del Mundo did not immediately respond to messages sent by this medium requesting a comment on the lawsuit against Naasón Joaquín, Silverio Coronado and the church.
Silverio Coronado served as a spokesperson for Naasón Joaquín at the Holy Supper in August 2019, when he had been imprisoned in Los Angeles for a month. Before thousands of faithful he read a text written by the 'Apostle of Jesus Christ' in which he mentions that "not even the most terrible adversities that come, the most acute sufferings that afflict us, nothing can change the joy within."
"He is one of Naason's most trusted ministers," a former pastor said of Coronado.
This bishop, who is believed to live in California, is married to a daughter of José Guadalupe Hernández, another member of the church leadership. He is also a close relative of José Coronado, who has been treasurer of the cult in Los Angeles. Univision News discovered that in the name of José Coronado there is a residence in East Los Angeles in which, according to the Prosecutor's Office, Naasón Joaquín abused girls.
The civil lawsuit by Sochil Martin, the first woman to sue the church leader in California, also names Silverio Coronado as a member of the Council of Bishops of La Luz del Mundo and an executive of a Redlands office of Casa Cultural Berea, the informative organ of the institution.
“From his position of power, Coronado was aware of and benefited from Mrs. Martin's trafficking and unpaid work,” says Martin's complaint.
Sochil Martin denounced a few days ago in a video that the wife of Mexican senator Israel Zamora Guzmán, a believer in the church, drugged and abused women with Samuel Joaquín. According to her, Sabdi Coronado was chosen to serve the 'Apostle' and later became a recruiter of girls. Sabdi Coronado is the niece of Silverio Coronado. Zamora Guzmán has denied these accusations.