CICERO (IL)
ABC7 Chicago [Chicago, IL]
September 16, 2025
By Leah Hope
A west suburban megachurch pastor is facing federal charges connected to an alleged child sex trafficking operation.
Neighbors told ABC7 that Cicero’s Light of the World Church at 1400 South 58th Court is popular. It is part an international church known by its Spanish name, La Luz Del Mundo.
But the church was closed on Tuesday after federal agents arrested Pastor Joram Núñez Joaquin last Wednesday during a 5 a.m. service, his attorney told ABC7.
Núñez Joaquin’s attorney provided photos in a court motion to try and get the pastor released from federal detention. He is named in a federal case involving California church leaders.
Federal prosecutors claim Núñez Joaquin, from the church’s Cicero branch, posed as an attorney and tried to coerced victims in California to not report alleged incidents. Nuñez Joaquin has pleaded not guilty.
Also last week, Naasón Joaquín García, an alleged relative of Núñez Joaquin, was taken into federal custody.
A newly unsealed indictment out of New York alleges García and co-defendants exploited the church for decades to enable the systemic sexual abuse of children and women for the sexual gratification of García and his father, who died in 2014.
García had been serving a more than 16-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2022 to two state counts.
In Chicago, Núñez Joaquin was in a courtroom in the Dirksen Federal Building on Monday, charged with racketeering conspiracy.
His attorney told the judge that Núñez Joaquin is a 37-year-old married father of three children who is not charged with any violence or sex abuse and should be released.
Núñez Joaquin’s attorney told ABC7, “Pastor Núñez is a devoted father, husband, and spiritual leader. It is absolutely unconscionable that masked federal agents arrested a pastor in front of his congregation and family at their place of worship. Despite these circumstances, Pastor Núñez remains confident that the truth and justice will prevail. He is a man of unbreakable faith.”
Federal prosecutors argued Núñez Joaquin is a flight risk with the church being based in Guadalajara Mexico.
The federal judge ordered Núñez Joaquin to remain in custody and to be transferred to the Southern District of New York.