A California appeals court has ordered the dismissal of the case against Naasón Joaquín García, the 50-year-old spiritual leader of the Guadalajara-based Luz del Mundo fundamentalist church, who has been held without bail since June 2019.
Joaquín García – known to his followers as the “Apostle of Jesus” – had been charged with 26 felonies committed between 2015 and 2018, including human trafficking, child pornography and child rape.
According to the Associated Press, the appeals court ruled that because Garcia's preliminary hearing was not held in a timely manner and he did not waive his right to one, the complaint filed against him must be dismissed.
The appeals court decision did not mention three female associates of Joaquín García – Alondra Ocampo, Susana Medina and Azalea Rangel – who were also named in the complaint. Ocampo and Medina were detained along with Joaquín García, while Rangel remains at large.