The Electoral Tribunal of the Judiciary of the Federation (TEPJF) of Mexico approved the judicial candidacy of Job Daniel Wong Ibarra this Wednesday. Wong is reported to belong to the Light of the World Church and aspires to be a magistrate in the judicial elections on June 1. The Superior Chamber of TEPJF determined with four votes in favor and the reasoned vote of magistrate Janine Otálora that being a minister of worship is not in itself a reason to disqualify a candidate through the 'special sanctioning procedure'.
The presiding magistrate Mónica Soto and magistrates Felipe de la Mata Pizaña, Alfredo Fuentes, and Reyes Rodríguez Mondragón were the ones who voted in favor of Job Daniel Wong's candidacy. Wong, who has publicly defended Naasón Joaquín García, the former leader of the Light of the World Church convicted of child sexual abuse in the United States, has recently distanced himself from the former religious leader on social media and interviews after the start of the judicial campaigns.
Wong's candidacy was challenged by direct victims of Naasón Joaquín García and the civil organization Desensorxs, who have also reported three other judicial candidates allegedly related to said church. The complainants accused Wong of acting as a minister of worship in the Light of the World Church and of giving a talk on 'evangelization strategies' at an international congress.
The questioned candidacies for supporting Naasón Joaquín García are those of Madián Sinaí Menchaca Sierra and Betzabeth Almazán Morales, candidates for district judges in Jalisco, and Cinthia Teniente Mendoza, candidate for circuit magistrate in the state of Guanajuato.
Naasón Joaquín García, arrested in 2019 in California, United States, in possession of child sexual material, is serving a sentence of almost 17 years in a state prison. Despite his incarceration, Joaquín García remains the leader of the Light of the World Church, which was founded in 1926 by Aarón Joaquín, Naasón's grandfather. The church, present in 60 countries and with up to 5 million followers, is considered by its members as a religious community where Joaquín García is called 'the apostle of Jesus Christ.'
