The leader of an international religious organisation is being held in the US on charges of human trafficking, child rape and other felonies.

Naasón Joaquín García, who heads La Luz del Mundo (The Light of the World) church, was detained at Los Angeles airport, California prosecutors said.

Mr García, known as "the Apostle" among his followers, and his three female co-defendants are facing 26 charges.

The organisation, which has headquarters in Mexico, says it has baptised more than five million people around the globe.

It claims to have at least 1.8 million followers in Mexico alone. However, only 188,326 people stated their religion as being Luz del Mundo, says Mexico's official census (in Spanish) carried out in 2010.

In recent years the church's influence has spread to the US, particularly in parts of California with large Hispanic populations.

In a statement released on Tuesday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Mr García, a Mexican national, and the three women allegedly committed 26 felonies in southern California between 2015 and 2018.

These included human trafficking, production of child sex abuse images and forcible rape of a minor

The defendants are accused of coercing underage girls into performing sex acts. The girls were reportedly told that if they went against the wishes of "the Apostle" they would be going against God.

Mr García's co-defendants have been named as Alondra Ocampo, Azalea Rangel Meléndez and Susana Medina Oaxaca. They are all affiliated with La Luz del Mundo.

Among them only Ms Meléndez remains at large.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48524878?xtor=AL-%5B72%5D-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bsmart.news%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D

So many out there

So many kids with lost childhoods

Breaks my heart