Surviving La Luz Del Mundo’ facilities victims in ‘cult’ intercourse abuse scandal

(RNS) — On the day of Naasón Joaquín García’s sentencing, 5 younger ladies he was charged with sexually abusing pleaded with the choose, urging him to impose an extended sentence than the 16 years and eight months García acquired.

The Jane Does referred to as García — the chief of the Mexico-based Pentecostal motion La Luz del Mundo — “evil,” a “monster” and the “Antichrist.” One lady stated he and his groomers “used the Bible as a weapon.” One other stated she was “like a sacrificial lamb” who was “raped and abused day after day.”

Their pleas throughout the June sentencing in a Los Angeles courthouse have been streamed stay on Spanish-language networks Telemundo and Univision. Now, in a brand new three-part documentary sequence premiering on HBO on Tuesday (Dec. 6), filmmaker Jennifer Tiexiera goals to draw widespread consideration to a narrative she feels has not been given the extent of consideration it deserves.

“It’s actually necessary that individuals from our group have a voice. (That) doesn’t all the time are likely to occur. This case was no completely different,” Tiexiera, who directed the sequence, advised Faith Information Service. 

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“Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo” delves into the historical past and development of La Luz del Mundo, highlights tales of abuse by the hands of its leaders and focuses on the survivors dealing with the trauma of a church that lots of its former members now name a cult. It additionally particulars how the church operated as an enterprise, utilizing congregants’ tithes and labor to take a position and construct actual property throughout the globe.

The documentary compares García’s sentencing of 16 years with Keith Raniere’s 120-year sentence for his function in main the cultlike group NXIVM, in addition to Ghislaine Maxwell’s 20 years in jail for serving to millionaire Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teen women.

“There’s a distinction in the way in which that sure victims are handled on this courtroom system,” Jonati Yedidsion, an legal professional representing the Jane Does in a new lawsuit, stated within the sequence. ”The phrases of the plea settlement would have been completely different if these have been 5 white women versus 5 Latina ladies.”

Ex-members of the church worry García will serve lower than his sentence, and Tiexiera hopes extra publicity may result in “a federal case for the survivors to really have a day in courtroom.”

Produced by Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions — which was behind the documentary “Going Clear: Scientology and the Jail of Perception” — in affiliation with Regulation & Crime Productions — which coated García’s courtroom case for the reason that starting — the documentary’s filmmakers deliberate to doc the long-awaited trial that was to start out early June and launch the sequence in 2023.

Naasón Joaquin Garcia, the chief of La Luz del Mundo, Spanish for The Mild of the World, seems in Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom on June 5, 2019. The chief of the multinational, Mexico-based Christian church is imprisoned in California after pleading responsible to sexually abusing minors. (AP Picture/Damian Dovarganes, File)

These plans modified when García abruptly pleaded guilty to 2 counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and one depend of a lewd act upon a baby who was 15. In alternate, prosecutors dropped 16 counts, together with allegations of raping youngsters and ladies, in addition to human trafficking to supply little one pornography. The victims objected to the plea deal, saying they solely discovered about it on the final minute and weren’t consulted.

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Instructed from the viewpoint of the survivors, many who met on Reddit to share their tales of abuse, Tiexiera stated she took a “survivor ahead trauma-based strategy” in making this sequence. Some former members used their full names, whereas others selected to be interviewed anonymously. 

“We weren’t going to do something that endangers their bodily security, their psychological well being or their impending courtroom instances,” she stated.

Sochil Martin in “Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo.” Picture courtesy of HBO

Sochil Martin was among the many survivors and former La Luz del Mundo members featured within the sequence. Martin, in February 2020, sued LLDM and greater than a dozen of its leaders, alleging she served as “an erotic dancer and sexual servant,” first to Samuel Joaquín Flores, the church apostle and chief who died in 2014, and later to Flores’ successor (and son), Naasón Joaquín García. The documentary tracks how she fled the church and her house in Ensenada, Mexico, along with her husband, additionally a former LLDM member.

It sheds mild on the case of Alondra Ocampo, who pleaded responsible and admitted to serving to discover García’s victims and take part within the abuse. The documentary interviews Ocampo’s husband, who joined LLDM for her and who stated he was unaware of Ocampo’s function within the abuse. He stood by Ocampo, who her legal professional stated was sexually abused as a baby by Samuel Joaquín Flores. Ocampo was poised to testify in opposition to García.

RELATED: Ex-members of La Luz del Mundo say Naasón Joaquín García deserves more than 16 years

It spotlights the isolation of ex-members, shunned by their very own households after selecting to depart the church. Alethea Coronado, a former LLDM member whose dad and mom stay within the church, hoped for a responsible verdict, “in order that our members of the family may open their eyes.”

“The world is a fantastic place. It’s not what they taught us it was. It’s great, and I’m simply experiencing it,” she stated within the documentary.

A La Luz del Mundo church location in “Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo.” Picture courtesy of HBO

The sequence consists of clips of courtroom sufferer statements heard throughout García’s sentencing in addition to footage of bishops, who on the third anniversary of García’s arrest proclaimed: “We have now waited for him throughout this time and now we look ahead to his return.”

Headquartered within the Catholic stronghold of Guadalajara, Mexico, La Luz del Mundo, which claims 5 million members, was based in 1926 by García’s grandfather, Eusebio Joaquín González. The church teaches that Jesus is God’s son however rejects the idea of the Trinity. Church leaders, like García, his father and grandfather, are seen as God’s apostles.

García’s father, Samuel Joaquín Flores, was the topic of kid intercourse abuse allegations in 1997, however authorities in Mexico by no means filed felony prices.

Leticia Silva, who’s featured within the documentary as an LLDM survivor, detailed the abuse she skilled as a younger adolescent by the hands of García’s father. Silva, who left the church in 1998, advised RNS she stays hopeful as a result of, she stated, the church doesn’t maintain as a lot energy within the U.S. as in Mexico.

Leticia Silva in “Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo.” Picture courtesy of HBO

Silva was raised Catholic and her grandparents launched her and her household to LLDM on a go to from Mexico to Los Angeles. She transformed when she was 14. Silva stated LLDM has impacted the way in which she sees faith. 

“We simply can’t belief (any) faith. I imagine in God. I imagine there’s a creator. I imagine in Jesus. I nonetheless imagine within the Bible, however I’ve my doubts,” she advised RNS.

“We don’t count on hurt to the church,” Silva’s husband and ex-LLDM member Joel Silva Orozco stated within the documentary.

“One in every of my wild goals could be that the church could be reformed and convert this church into an genuine Christian church for the good thing about these which have been working very laborious to construct it,” he stated.

The Related Press contributed to this report.