Naasón Joaquín's iPhone is a target of the FBI and the Mexican Prosecutor's Office: "We want the images"

Shortly after Naasón Joaquín García, leader of the La Luz del Mundo church, was sentenced to almost 17 years in prison for pederasty, the other agencies investigating him, the FBI and the Mexican Attorney General's Office (FGR), began the process to obtain all the evidence that California authorities found on his iPhone and other devices, according to Univision News sources.

"We want the images," an official who collaborates in one of the investigations told this medium.

The FBI has him under scrutiny as a result of the complaints made by Sochil Martin, who says he was a sex slave of Naasón Joaquín since he took the scepter of command of the cult in 2014.

The agency also interviewed a Texas teenagerwhom they identify as the victim of sexual abuse recorded by the Mexican pastor himself. Several videos of that incident were on an iPhone and an iPad that were confiscated by the California State Attorney's Office, according to hearings in the Los Angeles Court.

The FBI also participated in the rescue of one of the complainants, 'Jane Doe 5', who was kidnapped by the bodyguards of the church for several days, as she herself recounted at the sentencing hearing on June 8 and also assured state attorney Patricia Fusco a month earlier in court.

“(…) García's people followed her with weapons wherever she went. People on both sides of the border had to help her escape to the United States," Fusco said on May 2.

At the moment, the FBI has not confirmed anything publicly, as it does in other ongoing investigations. Her spokeswoman in Los Angeles, Laura Eimiller, promised to respond to a request for comment made by this medium, but did not send it until the publication of this note.

The FGR, for its part, opened two investigation folders: one for alleged human trafficking that began in the summer of 2019 and another for money laundering, which stems from the complaint made in March 2020 by the Intelligence Unit. Financiera (UIF), according to a Mexican government source.

Spokespersons for the Mexican Prosecutor's Office have also not confirmed whether they have an open case.

In the last three years, the FBI and the FGR have not had access to the evidence that the Californian Prosecutor's Office claims to have found in the devices that seized Naasón Joaquín, his two accomplices and the victims. Most are cell phones. "They didn't want to share any information," the source said.

Both agencies understood that they could request copies of images, text messages and other information that could be used for their investigations, until the criminal process in California was concluded. That happened on June 8, when Judge Ronald Coen sentenced him to 16 years and 8 months in jail, a reduced punishment for pleading guilty to three counts of sexual abuse of minors.

The State Attorney's Office declined to comment. “I suggest that you contact the FBI or the FGR directly... They would be better positioned to comment on any potential or ongoing investigation involving their offices,” he said in a statement sent to Univision News.

A group of ex-faithfuls has shared church financial information, including bank accounts, with IRS investigators in recent years, a source familiar with the collaboration said. The IRS office in Los Angeles did not confirm this information until this Saturday.

What did they find on Naasón Joaquín's iPhone?

Naasón Joaquín's iPhone was seized from him during his arrest at the Los Angeles airport in June 2019. That afternoon, law enforcement officers went to the home where he was staying in East Los Angeles to seize several other devices. Everything was taken to a forensic laboratory in Northern California, where they copied videos, photographs and written communications. That evidence was later taken to an office in the city of Commerce so that her attorneys could review it.

Most of the evidence that sank this evangelical minister was on his iPhone, registered with a phone number that corresponds to the San Diego area, where he was in charge of a temple.

One of the detectives who searched the cell phone testified in court in August 2020 that they found more than 200 images of child pornography and thousands more of legal pornography. They were stored with photos and videos of him. Naasón Joaquín opened that application on his phone a few hours before his arrest, during the private jet flight that transported him to Los Angeles.

California Department of Justice agent Steven Stover described a series of videos in which the Mexican pastor allegedly films and participates in a sexual threesome with a minor, "John Doe 2," who was about 15 or 16 years old during the abuse, and the only co-defendant still at large, Azalea Rangel Meléndez (in Mexican documents she appears as Azalia Rangel García).

"That series of videos shows a sexual trio between an anonymous victim and the co-defendant Azálea Rangel (...) and the defendant García, participating in sexual conduct in his private home in the La Luz del Mundo temple in Guadalajara, Mexico," he detailed. Stover.

The officer assured that Joaquín García appears several times holding his iPhone, because it was recorded by an iPad placed somewhere in the bedroom.

- “Did you see defendant Garcia's face in the video long enough to identify him?” a state prosecutor asked Agent Stover.

- "Absolutely", replied the officer.

The database on the mobile phone also helped the detectives confirm that the event occurred in Naasón Joaquín's room. This alleged abuse is of interest to the Mexican government.

Stover claims the videos found on the pastor's iPhone are between 48 seconds and 11 minutes long.

One was sent to his cell phone on February 14, 2019, four months before his arrest. He had this message: “How is your February 14 going, my love? A day we celebrate our love. Love and desire. And we have so much inside us for you. I love you with all my heart and I hope you have received this gift.”

“There are many girls in the collage”

Naasón Joaquín also had “multiple collages” on his cell phone with images of naked girls and in lingerie. Those who edited this explicit material added love songs and a message from a young woman who tells him that she wants to be by her side, according to Stover.

“When the video starts there is a love song in the background. That's the most accurate way to describe it. They fade and photos of girls wearing lingerie and naked appear. There are a lot of girls in the collage,” she continued.

The detective stated that all of the women "appear to be minors" and mentioned that their ages and names were revealed by the witness identified as 'Jane Doe 4'.

Stover explained that as he checked the iPhone he found "multiple collages that were similar": women without clothes also appear and romantic themes are heard.

"At a certain point, the music ends and the voice of a woman speaking in Spanish is heard expressing her love for a person and her desire to be with that person," the agent described.

"And then the music comes back on and when the person is talking, the pictures (of the girls) keep coming and going," she added.

In another recording appear Rangel, 'John Doe 2' and another woman only identified as "relative" of the minor. The setting is the same, Joaquín García's room, but this time it is adorned with "butterflies" and "a giant teddy bear." A part of the pastor's body is observed and his voice is heard, Stover said.

On the same cell phone, according to the officer, they found videos of girls' orgies. There are more than 200 photos and videos "relevant, due to the fact that they are of a pornographic nature because they appear young people who I believe were minors," Stover said in court.

“On the iPhone I found videos showing girls. In one particular video, four girls engage in an act of oral sex with each other," Stover said, adding that these women were "very young" and "completely naked." 'Jane Doe 4' also identified those alleged victims.

The record of internet searches, made from his phone, also showed the eccentric lifestyle led by the leader of La Luz del Mundo with money whose origin is a mystery. He was interested in learning about yachts, luxury watches and high-end items, he told himself in court.

Univision News confirmed that the Joaquíns, who have governed the Light of the World for more than 90 years, have a real estate emporium. They own ranches, mansions, rest homes, a hospital, a university, and rental properties in Mexico and the US.

Those who left the church say that Naasón Joaquín and his family have lived like kings at the expense of their faithful. Neither they nor the congregation have been able to confirm otherwise.

Naasón Joaquín is still being held at the Central Jail for Men in Los Angeles and is expected to be transferred to a state prison in the coming weeks. His release date has not been made public.

His followers, meanwhile, prepare to celebrate the most important event of the church, the Holy Supper, in mid-August in Guadalajara.

source: https://www.univision.com/noticias/criminalidad/naason-joaquin-garcia-luz-del-mundo-iphone-telefono-celular-fbi-fgr