Ocampo had pleaded guilty to four counts related to recruiting minors to be abused by the leader of the 'La Luz del Mundo' church. Her lawyer had asked for a reduced sentence for her extensive cooperation with the authorities and the three years she has been detained in a prison.
Alondra Margarita Ocampo, the woman who admitted to recruiting three teenagers to be sexually abused by the leader of the church 'La Luz del Mundo', Naasón Joaquín García, was sentenced Wednesday to four years in prison in the Superior Court of Los Angeles.
Ocampo's legal defense, 39, had asked for a reduced sentence for her for her extensive collaboration with the California government.
The punishment imposed tomorrow by Judge Ronald S. Coen means her upcoming release from a women's prison in Lynwood, considering the three years and four months she has been there, since police arrested her at her job on June 3, 2019.
"I think it's a fair sentence in light of his role in the case ... of the fact that she is a victim and her willingness to cooperate with the government and testify against the church leader, Naasón Joaquín García," Ocampo's lawyer, Fred Thiagarajah, had said before the sentencing in an interview with Univision Noticias.
The other two involved in this high-profile case have received reduced sentences, which has upset the victims and the complainants.
Co-defendant Susana Medina Oaxaca is only serving one year of supervised release and six months of psychiatric counseling, as they took into account the three years she was under house arrest.
And Naason Joaquin, whose followers call the "Apostle of Jesus Christ" and "Servant of God," signed a controversial agreement with the California District Attorney's Office that dropped 16 of 19 criminal charges and freed him from life in prison. He purges a reduced sentence of 16 years and 8 months at North Kern State Prison in the state's Central Valley. His good behavior and the prison programs he has taken also diminished the time he will have to serve: his tentative release date is March 2031. He hopes they will be transferred to another jail.
Ocampo, originally from Los Angeles, is considered the main accomplice of the leader of La Luz del Mundo in this particular case. She claimed to be innocent at the beginning of this process, but in October 2020 pleaded guilty under terms that were sealed by a judge. He confessed to committing four crimes against three teenagers and a young woman from the church. The government had imposed 27 charges on him, even more than on Naasón Joaquín himself.
He then pleaded guilty to the following:
Charge 19: Contact with a minor to commit a sex crime to the detriment of whistleblower Jane Doe 1. The abuse occurred in Los Angeles between August 1, 2017 and February 28, 2018.
Charge 20: Contact with a minor to commit a sex crime against teenager Jane Doe 2. These incidents were recorded at the same location and dates as the previous complainant.
Count 21: Contact with a minor to commit a sex crime against whistleblower Jane Doe 3. Ocampo acknowledged that these abuses occurred in the same period and place.
Count 33: Forced sexual penetration against young Jane Doe 5, between October 1 and 31, 2016 in Los Angeles. This incident is related to a "sexual demonstration" that Naasón Joaquín witnessed at a Beverly Hills hotel.
"Your testimony is important"
Ocampo had prepared to be the first person to testify against the 'Apostle' and was interviewed in jail by detectives from the California Department of Justice, who showed her evidence on a laptop about the sexual assaults committed by the Mexican pastor.
Thiagarajah says that influenced Naason Joaquin to confess to his crimes a few hours before the selection of the jury that would review his case began. "It was important for him to plead guilty ... If Alondra had not been willing to testify against Naason, he would have gone to trial," she said.
She has been in a special unit at the Lynwood prison for two years. Citing safety concerns, her lawyer said they have taken additional steps to protect her.
"I can't tell you when his release would be, we have security concerns. We believe the church will take revenge on her. We know there has been a revenge against her recently and we don't want her release date to be public and we don't want people from the church around the jail when she is released," Thiagarajah said.
Jonati Yedidsion, a lawyer for the five complainants in this case, agrees that Ocampo's collaboration was key to the leader of La Luz del Mundo being sent to a state prison, marked for life as a child sexual predator.
"Her testimony is extremely important and valuable, because she was a first-hand witness to what he was doing and what he wanted," Yedidsion said in an interview with Yedidsion.
"She is also a victim in many ways. She truly believed that Naason was an 'Apostle'... Part of what Naasón, Samuel, even Aaron did was to use those victims who were sexually abused and prepared them to become recruiters of other girls," said the lawyer referring to the other patriarchs of the church, who at the time were the subject of similar accusations: the father of the current leader Samuel Joaquín Flores and the founding grandfather Aarón Joaquín González.
Abuse disguised as a "blessing"
Prosecutors allege Ocampo approached three worshippers, ages 14 and 15 — identified as Jane Doe 1, 2 and 3 — to invite them to participate in a "special" group that would attend to the evangelical minister each time he visited Los Angeles. He told them it would be a "blessing" to serve him his food, bring him the coffee and assist him in whatever he asked.
But then he read them verses to convince them that their task was also to please him sexually. The groomer trained them to dance provocatively and took them to hotels to photograph them naked and performing sexual acts. Those images were sent to Naasón Joaquín's cell phone and were found by detectives when they checked the iPhone that they confiscated from the pastor.
"Ocampo took plaintiff 2 (Jane Doe 2) out of school and took her to Naason's house to attend to him privately. Once there, Ocampo instructed plaintiff 2 to enter Naason's room and receive the blessing of massaging her feet... (Then he) demanded that she take off her skirt and get on top of him. Naason started kissing plaintiff 2 even though she was only 14 years old and clearly crying," describes a lawsuit the five Jane Does filed last month.
Through her lawyer, Ocampo has told her story: at the age of nine she was taken by her parents to the main temple of La Luz del Mundo in Guadalajara, Mexico, where Samuel Joaquín raped her and told her that from that moment on she was his "spiritual wife". She grew up as his maid and tried to rebuild her life when he died in late 2014. But Naason, already seated on the throne of the church, demanded with threats that he form a group of girls to fulfill his sexual aberrations.
This woman entered the court with a hardened face and never crossed glances with Naasón Joaquín. Thiagarajah says it was because he considered him "a monster" and was angry to be by his side. When she pleaded guilty, all her relatives turned their backs on her and stopped visiting her in prison and attending her hearings. The church does not even refer to his case, nor does it refer to the rest of the accused.
Ocampo has apologized to the five complainants, but some continue to reject it. "They all have different perspectives. Each had a unique relationship and experiences... But I think in general they understand that it was a situation where Alondra was forced to do it, because she was faithful to this church and she was loyal to Naason," Yedidsion said.
This case is still open for the Government of California, since the third defendant is on the run: Azalea Rangel Meléndez, who was the private secretary of Naasón Joaquín and is believed to be hiding in Mexico. The state attorney's office says it is working with law enforcement agencies to capture her, but the U.S. Marshals service, which is tasked with searching for fugitives abroad, told this outlet that she is not on their list.
Source: Naasón Joaquín's main accomplice is sentenced to jail | Univision Criminality News | Univision