Bail Denied For Megachurch Leader After Testimony About Threeway Sex Tape With Minor Enrages Judge

The Christian Post reports:

Leader of the 5 million-member Light of the World church Naason Joaquin Garcia was denied bail on child sex crime charges after a visibly angered Los Angeles Superior Court judge heard a witness describe video evidence that allegedly shows the pastor in a sexual threesome involving a minor. “ This is a man who preyed on young girls,” Superior Court Judge David Fields declared at a bail review hearing. “Religion was used against these girls. They were told that if they didn’t comply [sexually], they were sinning.”

Garcia, 50, who is considered by his church to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, was arrested a month ago at the Los Angeles International Airport. Garcia and his co-defendants were charged with human trafficking, production of child pornography, forcible rape of a minor, and other felonies committed between 2015 and 2018. A group of girls were told that if they went against Garcia’s desires, “they were going against God,” according to the criminal complaint.

My initial report on Garcia is here.