In 2019, LLDM’s incumbent “Apostle,” NaasĂłn JoaquĂn Garcia is apprehended along with two of his alleged handmaidens and charged with crimes relating to five Jane Does. In a heartbreaking turn of events for JoaquĂn Garcia’s victims, prosecutors unexpectedly offer him a plea deal depriving the victims of their day in court. While JoaquĂn Garcia is sentenced to just 16 years and eight months in jail, the survivors are determined to keep fighting for justice while grappling with their trauma.
Overview
Explore the horrifying story of the Christian church La Luz del Mundo (LLDM) and the sexual abuse that scores of members, many of them minors, say they have suffered at the hands of its successive leaders, known as the "Apostles."
In 2017, former members of LLDM form an online community on Reddit sharing stories of abuse at the hands of the church’s venerated “Apostles.” Groomed as children, and psychologically imprisoned within a cult-like society through...
Despite the church’s expanding power and influence, award-winning investigative journalists Rhonda Schwartz and Brian Ross report on the decades-long scandal as law enforcement also takes note. Risking their own safety, ex-LLDM members come forward to...
In 2019, LLDM’s incumbent “Apostle,” NaasĂłn JoaquĂn Garcia is apprehended along with two of his alleged handmaidens and charged with crimes relating to five Jane Does. In a heartbreaking turn of events for JoaquĂn Garcia’s...
