The leader of the Mexican megachurch La Luz del Mundo was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 16 years in a California prison for sexually abusing young female followers.
Naasón Joaquín García, 53, pleaded guilty last week in Los Angeles superior court to three felonies on the eve of a long-awaited trial.
The sentence came after nearly three hours of emotional statements by five young women García was charged with sexually abusing.
But in court they called him “evil” and a “monster”, “disgusting human waste” and the “antichrist”.
García pleaded guilty on Friday to two counts of forcible oral copulation involving minors and one count of a lewd act upon a child who was 15.
In exchange, prosecutors dropped 16 counts that included allegations of raping children and women, as well as human trafficking to produce child pornography.
But they were also told they would be damned if they spoke out – and so would anybody they told. »