LOS ANGELES -- La Luz del Mundo church in Mexico said Wednesday that its leader and "apostle" Naason Joaquin Garcia, who was arrested in California on charges of human trafficking and child rape, remains the spiritual leader of the group, which claims 5 million followers in 58 countries. It also strongly denied the charges.
"We believe these accusations are defamation and slander of our international director, the apostle of Jesus Christ," said church spokesman Silem Garcia, who is not related to Joaquin Garcia. "His position as apostle of Jesus Christ was given to him by God, and for life, and he continues to lead the church."
Joaquin Garcia and a follower of the church, Susana Medina Oaxaca, 24, were arrested Monday after landing at Los Angeles International Airport.
A third defendant, Alondra Ocampo, 36, was arrested in Los Angeles County and a fourth, Azalea Rangel Melendez, remains at large.
The group faces a 26-count felony complaint with allegations that range from human trafficking and production of child pornography to rape of a minor. The charges detail allegations involving three girls and one woman between 2015 and 2018 in Los Angeles County.
A judge raised Joaquin Garcia's bail from $25 million to $50 million after investigators conducted additional searches.
Joaquin Garcia's attorney, Dmitry Gorin, said he's had murder cases with lower bail and called the figure "outrageous" and "unreasonable" at Wednesday's arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The defendants' arraignment was extended to Monday.
The fundamentalist Christian church, whose name translates to The Light of the World, was founded in 1926 by Joaquin Garcia's grandfather. His father also led the church and was the subject of child sex-abuse allegations in 1997, but authorities in Mexico never filed criminal charges.
Joaquin Garcia is named in 14 counts and Ocampo in 21. Oaxaca and Melendez are each named in two counts.
Joaquin Garcia -- who was a minister in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California before becoming the church's leader -- coerced the victims into performing sex acts by telling them that refusing would be going against God, authorities said.
He is accused of forcing the victims, who were members of the church, to sexually touch themselves and one another. One of his co-defendants also took nude photographs of the victims and sent the pictures to Joaquin Garcia, the criminal complaint said.
"Crimes like those alleged in this complaint have no place in our society. Period," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
The attorney general's investigation began in 2018, prompted in part by a tip to the California Department of Justice through an online clergy abuse complaint form.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said "we didn't know, or at least authorities didn't have information, about what was made public yesterday," adding "my conscience is clear."
A Section on 06/06/2019