Naasón Joaquín García, leader of la Luz del Mundo church, was transferred Wednesday morning to a state prison in Delano, California, to serve his sentence to nearly 17 years in prison on three counts of pedophilia, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office confirmed to Univision Noticias.
"He was transferred to North Kern State Jail in Delano today, around 11:15 a.m.," a law enforcement official told the agency.
The state prison that Naasón Joaquín, 53, has just arrived at is located in the city of Delano, in California's Central Valley. At 3:02 a.m., the pastor left his cell at the Central Men's Jail and was placed in the Inmate Reception Center, both prisons in downtown Los Angeles.
Naasón Joaquín was in the Central Jail for Men for three years and two months, since his arrest on June 3, 2019, when he arrived in a private jet at the Los Angeles airport.
His name does not yet appear in the records of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations, therefore his release date is still unknown.
The so-called 'Apostle of Jesus Christ' was sentenced on June 8 to 16 years and 8 months in prison on three charges linked to the sexual abuse of three teenagers who attended a temple of his congregation in East Los Angeles, California, of which he admitted to being guilty.
The minister born in Jalisco, Mexico, faced the possibility of receiving life in prison. He was charged with 19 crimes, including human trafficking, possession of child pornography and rape of a better one. But a much-criticized plea deal accepted by the California District Attorney's Office changed that. Victims and former faithful widely criticized it and considered it "a mockery."
"Do you remember how you enjoyed suffocating me until I vomited? Do you remember how you ordered them to hold me so that I would not resist? Do you remember telling me you wouldn't stop until I stopped screaming? Remember when you wanted me to bring you my little sister so you could do it? I told you I was only 14 years old," said one of the victims, identified as Jane Doe 4.
Another of the complainants, Jane Doe 1, said that no one who was not in The Light of the World could "understand the tenor of the brainwashing" that was in the temple. "This predator of children deserves to be in jail for the rest of his life," he said, calling for the "maximum sentence."
Naason didn't move upon hearing these women, he didn't even go back to see them. In fact, he turned his back on them in court.
Judge Ronald S. Coen apologized to the victims for not giving the Leader of the Light of the World a higher sentence and explained that he was "on tied hands" by the agreement with prosecutors. To Naason, emphatically, he said, "You are a sexual predator."
After the sentence was announced, the Jane Does hugged and cried together in the courtroom.
Reappeared this Sunday
This Sunday, at the closing of the sacrament, the most important event of the Church of La Luz del Mundo, Naasón Joaquín reappeared in a recorded audio of a phone call.
"I don't see a cell with four walls, I don't see the bars, which separate me from you, I see your beautiful faces, I see your beautiful party. Yes! Because you are the children of God, the wife of the lamb and today I have also participated in this blessing," said the minister pausing supposedly with a broken voice, a typical inflection of the shepherds of that cult.
Hundreds of parishioners gathered at the templo mayor in Guadalajara, Mexico, denying that their leader is a pedophile.
In his telephone sermon, the leader of The Light of the World described the ordeal of Jesus Christ, ostensibly to explain his situation in a Los Angeles jail, where he has been since his arrest on June 3, 2019. His church compares the two events and assures that Naason Joachim is a martyr.
"Yes, brethren, he could have refused, he lost nothing, he was the son of God, he already had his place. But he had confidence in us, he had hope in us... Thus, the Lord was brought to death, in the saddest conditions, of loneliness, of anguish, of pain, of mockery and even of death itself," said the pastor, who was interrupted by a recording that is intentionally heard in telephone communications from California prisons: "This call is being recorded."
This Sunday, at the closing of the sacrament, the most important event of the Church of La Luz del Mundo, Naasón Joaquín reappeared in a recorded audio of a phone call.
"I don't see a cell with four walls, I don't see the bars, which separate me from you, I see your beautiful faces, I see your beautiful party. Yes! Because you are the children of God, the wife of the lamb and today I have also participated in this blessing," said the minister pausing supposedly with a broken voice, a typical inflection of the shepherds of that cult.
Hundreds of parishioners gathered at the templo mayor in Guadalajara, Mexico, denying that their leader is a pedophile.
In his telephone sermon, the pastor described the ordeal of Jesus Christ, ostensibly to explain his situation in a Los Angeles jail, where he has been since his arrest on June 3, 2019. His church compares the two events and assures that Naason Joachim is a martyr.
"Yes, brethren, he could have refused, he lost nothing, he was the son of God, he already had his place. But he had confidence in us, he had hope in us... Thus, the Lord was brought to death, in the saddest conditions, of loneliness, of anguish, of pain, of mockery and even of death itself," said the pastor, who was interrupted by a recording that is intentionally heard in telephone communications from California prisons: "This call is being recorded."
The last hearing of this case
On Thursday, Naason Joaquin's attorneys and the victims' legal representatives will return to Los Angeles Superior Court for a restitution hearing. It will be the last in this criminal case.
Restitution is the return by a convicted felon of money a victim lost or had to spend because of the crime, including expenses for psychological therapies, medical care, lost wages, legal representation fees, removals, security, and lost property.
"No one can undo the crime, but if the person responsible is convicted, the judge can order him to pay for the monetary losses or costs of the crime. In most cases, restitution will cover only economic losses," the California Courts website explains.
This payment does not usually include compensation for "non-financial losses, such as constant pain and suffering," but there is an exception for victims who were minors when the events occurred. That would benefit the three teenagers abused by Naasón Joaquín: Jane Doe 1, 2 and 3.
"Even if your losses are not eligible for restitution to the victim ordered by the court, you still have the right to sue the offender in civil court," the portal adds.
At the moment it is unknown what figure the Jane Does lawyer will request.
Having excluded all charges related to the other two adult whistleblowers, Naason Joaquin would be exempt from covering the expenses of Jane Doe 4 and Jane Doe 5, according to the court's explanation.