Posted on 06/08/2022 10:20:47 PM PDT by Morgana
The leader of a prominent Christian megachurch was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to multiple counts of child sexual assault late last week.
During the hearing, the defendant — and many others — were sharply upbraided by the judge.
“I never cease to be amazed at what people do in the name of religion,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Coen angrily mused. “And how people’s lives are ruined in the guise of serving a supreme being.”
After years of proclaiming his innocence and pledging to fight the charges against him, Naasón Joaquín García, 53 — known to his flock as the “apostle” of the Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth, The Light of the World, which claims over 5 million members worldwide — admitted last week to being legally culpable for two counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and one count of a lewd act upon a child who was 15 at the time.
“As to the defendant, I say, you are a sexual predator,” Coen told García as several pronounced sobs could be heard in the background during the sentencing hearing.
Prosecutors have alleged that García and several other co-defendants used religion and the church’s traditional power hierarchy in order to groom at least five children into a web and cycle of sexual abuse – at times forcing the children to abuse one another.
Before the sentencing occurred, the court had heard victim impact statements from survivors of the pastor’s apparent reign of religious and sexual terror.
(Excerpt) Read more at lawandcrime.com ...
megachurch ping, although I’ve never heard of this one.
“ Prosecutors have alleged that García and several other co-defendants used religion and the church’s traditional power hierarchy in order to groom at least five children into a web and cycle of sexual abuse – at times forcing the children to abuse one another.”
So what is different from the transgender and drag queen story hours?
Looks like not okay to use Christian beliefs to groom children, but okay to groom them with pagan methods. Sick shat!
Imagine all that weight used to hold you down. A Mexican prison should turn him into a skinny kick toy.
I read a little about this group. It has a lot of the markings of a cult.
I only know of one church like this. Father in law’s church. The pastor got drunk and went out to call on a female member of the church. He tried to rape her. He was immediately fired and prosecuted, and found guilty, and went to prison. I have not had experience with people who just put up with this crap...
Yeop! Another one! The “megachurch” that I attended where the Pastor’s sexual deviance was finally exposed was Overland Christian Church in Kirkland, Washington. Pastor Bob Moorehead (no joke). 1998. What is it with some of these Christian “Leaders”? It just happens waaay to often. The 2002 Catholic Archdiocese of Boston sex abuse scandal involved over 90 priests and 250 criminal charges. No doubt its a diagnosable psychological condition. The affect it has on kids is irreversible and tragic. rant/off
The judge is correct. Those types of phony Christians are disgusting in what they do using the cover of the gospel of Christ. Shoulda given him 22 years...
Then again, the abuse people heap on others under the guise of “love” and “empowerment” or “opportunity” is disgusting also.
Mega church, mega egos.
It is easy for people to judge other cultures, and for the non-religious to judge the religious. I suspect that Coen is missing a letter—an “h” dropped out of the middle, which likely makes the judge a secularized Jew.
If one reads the opening chapters of the I Samuel and pays attention to the verses about Eli’s sons, one will discover that the problem runs very deep indeed, and that culturally the apple never falls far from the tree. Problems regarding sexuality and power run deep.
While I am a believing Catholic, I can understand the great appeal and functionality of the rural Baptist way of running things—that is a tradition that I respect that runs deep among my ancestors. There were a number of Congregationalists, who have close to the same hierarchy, but apply the same principles to doctrine, which seems more flawed dogmatically.
Call it what it is - a cult. Blasphemers, all of them.
Good points about the transgender and drag queens.
This children in this story were not as young as the grooming candidates I’m seeing in recent stories.
Why are they allowed to do that? Oh, because they’re not a “church.”
I think the defendant has grounds to appeal because of the judge’s anti religious speech.
Kill him..
kiddie diddlers have no redeeming qualities.
Given a chance they will do it again..
Kill them
Markings of a cult? Really? Do you think so?
/s
This is a cult pretending to be a Christian church.
Ew, that photo is disgusting — the women in blue mantillas in the background sobbing over him like the women in North Korea do over Big Boy Kim.
I'm not sure he meant it as anti-religion, but as disgust at false preachers who use religious imagery to prey upon others.
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