Mexican megachurch leader gets more than 16 years for abuse [View all]
BRIAN MELLEY,
Associated Press
June 8, 2022
Updated: June 8, 2022 10:40 p.m.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The leader of the Mexican megachurch La Luz del Mundo was sentenced Wednesday to more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young female followers who said he made them his sex slaves.
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Prosecutors said García, who is considered the “apostle” of Jesus Christ by his 5 million worldwide followers, used his spiritual sway to have sex with girls and young women who were told it would lead to their salvation — or damnation if they refused.
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The sentence came after nearly three hours of emotional statements by five young women García was charged with sexually abusing. They had once been his most devoted servants. But in court they called him “evil” and a “monster,” “disgusting human waste” and the “antichrist.”
García’s grandfather founded the Guadalajara-based fundamentalist Christian church in 1926. García took over as “apostle” after his father, Samuel Joaquín Flores, died in 2014. Flores was also the subject of child sex abuse allegations in 1997, but authorities in Mexico never filed criminal charges.
More:
https://www.chron.com/news/article/Mexican-megachurch-leader-faces-more-than-16-17227682.php
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