Mark Vega, senior pastor of Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, Florida, has been arrested for failing to report several cases of alleged child abuse to authorities. Alachua County Sheriff's Office arrested the Assemblies of God pastor on Nov. 24. He was released from jail the next day after posting a $50,000 bond.
According to the Roys Report, officials charged Vega with failure to report suspected child abuse. Under Florida state laws, pastors, teachers, health care providers, law enforcement, and other professionals are required to report suspected child abuse, neglect, abandonment, or sexual abuse to the Florida DCF abuse hotline. Failure to do so is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison if convicted.
The charge against Vega comes amid a series of lawsuits attorneys have filed on behalf of several victims who claim the church covered up sexual abuse at its school and youth camp.
According to the criminal complaint, Vega allegedly received reports of abuse in 2019. A 22-year-old victim told Vega that Gabriel Hemenez, a 26-year-old student at the time of the incident, had sexually assaulted him on a bus. Church leaders reportedly called a meeting with the victim and Hemenez, who initially denied the assault and said contact was consensual. The complaint says he eventually confessed that the contact was not consensual, yet church leaders, including Vega, failed to discipline him.
Two years later, Hemenez served as a leader at the church's summer youth program, where he was accused of assaulting at least four boys ages 9 to 16. Vega allegedly told one of the victims that he would report Hemenez, who had relocated to a different church, but failed to follow through. A different pastor reported Hemenez to authorities in 2023.
Hemenez pleaded no contest in 2024 to two counts of lewd molestation of a child under the age of 17. He is facing three additional felony charges in Alachua County for molesting a victim younger than 12 years old.
As for Vega, he is also accused of ignoring reports from four girls who were pressured into having sex with his son, Christian Vargas, the Roys Report reports.