A pastor at an Assemblies of God church in Florida has been arrested for failing to report several cases of alleged child sexual abuse to authorities.
Mark Vega, senior pastor of Ignite Life Center in Gainesville, was arrested Nov. 24 by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office. He was released from jail the following day after posting a $50,000 bond.
Officials charged Vega in August with failure to report suspected child abuse, a third-degree felony. Vega, who pleaded not guilty Nov. 25, could face up to five years in prison if convicted.
De acuerdo a un sworn complaint filed with the Gainesville Police Department, Vega, 55, “intentionally endeavored” to cover up multiple reports of child abuse.
In Florida, pastors must report suspected child abuse to authorities. State law also requires professions that rely “on spiritual means for healing” to provide their names when reporting suspected abuse.
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El Informe Roys (TRR) contacted Vega’s attorney, Michael Hines, and Ignite Life Center for comment on the arrest but did not receive a response. Vega was still listed as senior pastor on the church website as of time of publication.
The charge against Vega came after Fort Lauderdale-based Horowitz Law filed five lawsuits on behalf of victims, who claimed the church covered up sexual abuse reported at its school and youth camp.
As previously reported by TRR, three youth leaders at Ignite Life Center have been charged since 2023 with sexually abusing minors during church activities.
los sworn complaint states that Vega initially received reports of abuse in 2019 and attempted to handle them internally instead of alerting authorities.
In 2019, a 22-year-old victim allegedly told Vega that Gabriel Hemenez, then a 26-year-old student at the church’s school, had sexually assaulted him on a bus. Hemenez eventually confessed but did not face consequences from the church or school, the complaint states.
Two years later, Hemenez served as a leader in a kids’ summer program at the church, where he was accused of assaulting four boys ages 9 to 16. One of the victims reported his assault a year later, but Hemenez had relocated to a church in Orlando by that time.
Vega allegedly told the victim he would report Hemenez to police but failed to do so, the complaint states. Another Ignite Life Center 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.
Vega is also accused of ignoring reports from four girls that they were pressured into having sex with his son, Christian Vargas, a youth leader at the church. One of the victims also claimed she felt forced to have sex with youth leader Noel Cruz, son of an associate pastor at the church.
According to the complaint, Vega and other church leaders told the girl’s parents in November 2022 to begin a “process of restoration” to work toward forgiveness of Vargas and Cruz. Both were restored to the church.
When the girl’s parents later told Vega the process resulted in bullying of their daughter, they claimed he became “intimidating” and questioned whether authorities should be alerted.
Eventually in February 2023, the brother of a victim contacted authorities about the alleged abuse by Vargas and Cruz. Vargas was arrested in July 2023, and Cruz was arrested in February 2024.
Before pastoring Ignite Life Center, Vega worked as the district youth director for the Florida Multicultural District. In addition, he has served as chaplain for the New York Yankees.
Vega’s next appearance in court is set for Jan. 12, 2026.
Ann Marie Shambaugh has reported as a print journalist in multiple states, including currently in Carmel, Indiana.
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4 Responses
Finally a pastor who apparently knew about abuse of minors is arrested for failing to report these crimes to law enforcement.
Unfortunately, this is the only way that most pastors will do the right thing and report – by seeing other pastors arrested and perp walked.
He’s not a pastor; he’s a fraud. He failed to protect innocent children. Five years isn’t nearly long enough if they actually convict him. He should suffer the same ramifications as those found guilty of child SA. He’s just as guilty if not more so than the abusers. It’s no surprise tha he’s AoG -in my experience, it’s a denomination that harbors predators and serial abusers of all types.
The Assemblies of God is their way of having the same notoriety as the SBC and the Roman Catholic church when it comes to abuse of minors (if not already so).
Does anyone know why John MacArthur or others in power were likewise not held responsible when David Gray wound up in jail for abuse of his children? Eileen Gray was disenfranchised publicly by MacArthur for divorcing her husband over the abuse. So I have wondered about this…