Former ILC Youth Counselor, Gabe Hemenez, Hit With New Child Molestation Case
Former Ignite Life Center (ILC) youth counselor, Gabriel Hemenez, 30, has a new child molestation case.
On March 19, 2025, Hemenez was charged with three counts of molestation against a victim under 12 years of age.
The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) has not yet responded to a public records request by GnvInfo for Hemenez’s sworn complaint.
GnvInfo cannot independently verify if Hemenez’s new case involves ILC.
In March 2024, Hemenez was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison, followed by eight years of probation, for two felony counts of molestation against a victim between the ages of 12 and 16, in addition to a felony count of battery.
Hemenez took advantage of his volunteer and/or employment position at the ILC Summer Internship (ISI) to commit the offenses.
Following Hemenez’s arrest in July 2023, GnvInfo went to ILC on the date of their sermon to see if they would publicly respond. ILC lead pastor Mark Vega and pastor/public relations manager Nicole Gomez led a town-hall-style meeting where Vega lied to dozens of members of his congregation.
Vega told ILC congregants, “Biblical culture is transparent culture,” and released a statement that said, “We are fully committed to continually support and foster a healthy reporting culture and to cooperate with law enforcement in maintaining justice.”
Shortly after Hemenez was sentenced, ILC was sued in three cases for covering up his sexual abuses. One of the lawsuits alleged that the victim told ILC about the sexual abuses Hemenez committed against him, and was told the matter was reported to GPD. When the victim called GPD to ask about the investigation, they told him there wasn’t an investigation because the sexual abuse was never reported, states the lawsuit.
Shortly before the lawsuits were settled, ILC admitted they “did not report that Gabriel Hemenez was the subject of sexual abuse suspicions, rumors, reports, and/or complaints to law enforcement prior to February 2023.”
Following the town hall meeting, Gomez told GnvInfo that Hemenez started out at ILC as a volunteer before later becoming an employee and then transitioning back to a volunteer. Gomez did not mention that Hemenez was also an Ignite School of Ministry (ISM) student.
Before the civil lawsuits were settled, ILC admitted that Hemenez was an ISM student but denied he was an employee.
Vega’s son, Christian Vargas, and then-associate pastor Jose Cruz’s son, Noel Cruz, were arrested after Hemenez in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
A GPD Supplemental Report in Noel Cruz’s case states Vega arranged a private meeting to discuss the victim's report of sexual misconduct by Vargas and Noel Cruz.
The meeting included Mark Vega, his wife Lisa Vega, the victim, her father, Jose and Noel Cruz, Vargas, and ILC pastors Esther Omeben and Nick Bruce.
Former Yankees baseball pitcher and New York pastor Mariano Rivera was recently sued for covering up multiple sexual abuse incidents against a child, some of which occurred when the victim traveled from Rivera's church to Gainesville for ISI.
The lawsuit states Rivera and his wife traveled to ILC to silence the victim from speaking out about the sexual abuse committed against her at the church.
Mark Vega previously served as the Yankees chaplain and has been friends with Rivera since 1992.
ILC remains an active church in the Gainesville community, and the pastors continue to pursue business endeavors.
Last month, Mark Vega opened a ministerial school in Brazil. In an ILC sermon last June, he said “Brazil does not have a way for young adults to get credentialed with the Assemblies of God. If you’re called [or] anointed by God [and] you wanna be a chaplain, church planter, pastor, [or] minister, you have to depend on the local church. Most local churches are not resourced like this church [is]. This church is a compilation of churches in a region.”
In October 2024, former Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe moved the Sister Cities of Gainesville and Greater Gainesville International Center (GGIC) to ILC.
Lisa Vega opened a business in Alachua called Lisa V Company last fall.
The ILC investigation will continue to be updated as new information is uncovered.
