Mark Vega, a prominent Florida pastor and chaplain, was arrested on Nov. 24 for allegedly failing to inform law enforcement officials about suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect. As a mandatory reporter under state law, Vega faces one felony count for allegedly withholding knowledge about alleged sexual abuse that occurred at his church and at church events. He has pleaded not guilty; his next court date is Jan. 12.
Editor’s note: This article refers to reports of child sex abuse that some readers might find triggering and/or disturbing.
Vega, 55, is the founder and senior pastor of Ignite Life Center, an Assemblies of God church in Gainesville, Florida. He also serves as a chaplain for the Gainesville Police Department and is a former chaplain for the New York Yankees. Vega, a self-described “international evangelist,” is the author of “Bitten.”
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In August, a criminal complaint was filed against Vega in Alachua County Circuit Court. It followed several years of abuse allegations involving several people in leadership positions at Ignite. These include a former church volunteer, an associate pastor’s son, and Vega’s own son. The two sons had been serving as youth leaders.
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According to the criminal complaint, Pastor Mark Vega failed to report suspected sexual abuse dating back to 2019. On a church bus trip that year, 26-year-old ministry student Gabriel Hemenez inappropriately touched a 22-year-old male student—and later admitted to church leaders that the touching wasn’t consensual. Despite learning about the abuse allegation, police said, Vega and other staff members didn’t report it to law enforcement.
Two years later, Hemenez was allowed to volunteer at the church’s summer internship program, where he supervised a bunk of more than two dozen boys. According to the complaint against Vega, the senior pastor was told that Hemenez reportedly touched a teen boy’s genitals after the boy showered. Despite assurances that he would report the incident, Vega never did so, according to police.
After eventually learning that Vega had failed to inform authorities, the alleged victim’s older brother contacted police about that incident and several others. Hemenez was arrested in 2023, pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
Earlier this year, new criminal charges and a civil lawsuit were filed against Hemenez. According to news reports, at least five boys under age 17 have accused him of sexual abuse at Ignite or at church-sponsored events.
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Police said that by November 2022, Pastor Mark Vega learned of sexual abuse allegations against two other church workers: Noel Cruz, an adult youth leader whose father was an Ignite pastor, and Christian Vargas, a teen-then-adult youth leader who is the son of Pastor Vega. Underage girls and their parents reportedly told Vega that Cruz and Vargas had pressured the girls into having sex.
According to the complaint, those incidents occurred on church property, in an isolated area that leadership knew about. A church employee also told his supervisor and Vega that he had seen Vargas redirect surveillance cameras away from the area.
