Former NY Yankee, Pastor Mariano Rivera, Sued for Intimidating Child in Gainesville
Editor’s Notes: The acronym for “Refuge of Hope” is “Refugio," but the church will be consistently referred to with its full name to avoid confusion with Ignite Life Center’s previous immigration program, “Ignite Refugio.” Ignite Life Center is affiliated with Refuge of Hope Church, but Refuge of Hope was not a contributor to the former Ignite Refugio program, and the similarity in names is coincidental.
On January 16, head pastors of the Refuge of Hope church in New Rochelle, New York (NY), Mariano and Clara Rivera were sued for negligent supervision and premises liability. Their former estate, Brook View Rye LLC, was also sued for premises liability.
Mariano Rivera is a world-famous former baseball pitcher and has won the World Series with the NY Yankees five times.
Mariano Rivera has a long history of friendship with Gainesville Pentecostal Church Ignite Life Center’s (ILC) head pastor Mark Vega. Vega served as the Yankees chaplain while Mariano Rivera played.
Mariano Rivera is the leader and a pastor at the Refuge of Hope church; however, previous whistleblowers have regarded him as a figurehead who isn’t at the church very often. Clara Rivera runs the day-to-day pastoral operations of the church.
Mariano Rivera sold Brook View Rye at a $2 million loss in June 2022.
“Upon information and belief and at all times relevant, Clara and Mariano Rivera were the primary residents of 1 Brook View Lane, Rye, New York,” states the lawsuit.
Three people from ILC have been arrested for sexual abuse against minors: (1) former volunteer/Ignite School of Ministry (ISM) student convicted child molester Gabriel Hemenez; (2) Vega’s son Christian Vargas; and (3) former associate pastor Jose Cruz’s son, non-convicted aggravated assaulter Noel Cruz.
According to a report by Main Street Daily News, the non-profit Mariano Rivera Foundation started a youth development program in Gainesville with ILC for kids with underprivileged backgrounds. The article currently includes a photo of Mariano Rivera standing next to non-convicted aggravated assaulter Noel Cruz.
Numerous people have traveled to ILC from Refuge of Hope for ILC’s Summer Internship program. One of them was a plaintiff in the now-settled civil lawsuits against ILC and Florida Multicultural District (FMD) of the Assemblies of God (AG) for covering up Hemenez’s crimes.
The lawsuit reports Refuge of Hope Church is part of “the global cooperative body of the Assemblies of God religion.”
The victim is identified as Jane Doe.
Doe and her family were introduced to AG-affiliated church ILC while attending services at Refuge of Hope.
Clara Rivera convinced Doe’s mom to allow her daughter to attend the Ignite Summer Internship in Gainesville.
The Ignite Summer Internship was promoted alongside ISM. Many ISM students attended the summer internship. The summer internship housed kids as young as ten years old.
ISM was marketed as a ministerial college that housed students who were minors and adults together. For example, Hemenez was in his mid to late 20s when he was an ISM student while other students were of high school ages. Kids as young as 16 would be in the same class as full-grown adults. Hemenez took advantage of being a volunteer to sleep in the same room with the younger boys.
When Doe arrived at the summer internship, she was housed with a much older minor girl who has been identified as MG.
MG reportedly sexually abused Doe throughout the Summer Internship.
The lawsuit states Doe could only call her parents “sporadically.” Former ISM students who gave interviews on GnvInfo have corroborated this, stating the pastors took students' phones away until a student having a lawyer for a father caused them to change the rule.
Doe’s mom became concerned for her daughter’s well-being after one phone call, prompting her to call Clara Rivera to report her safety concerns. Clara Rivera promised to investigate the matter.
The lawsuit states, “Ms. Rivera and her husband, Refuge of Hope employee/volunteer/agent Mariano Rivera, then traveled from New York to Florida to see Jane Doe at the Ignite Life Summer Internship. During that trip, the Riveras, in their capacity as agents for defendants, learned or should have learned information that Jane Doe was being sexually abused by MG. Rather than take sufficient action to end the sexual abuse of Jane Doe, the Riveras each separately isolated and intimidated Jane Doe to remain silent about her abuse by MG to avoid causing trouble for Refuge of Hope and the Ignite Life Summer Internship.”
The lawsuit states the Riveras lied to Doe’s mother, allowing her daughter to remain a victim of MG’s sexual abuse.
Doe returned to NY after the ILC Summer Internship ended and resumed church services at Refuge of Hope.
In August 2018, Refuge of Hope hosted a barbecue at Brook View Rye.
The lawsuit states Mariano and Clara Rivera invited their church’s children to the barbecue but did not invite parents to attend.
Mariano and Clara Rivera reportedly left Doe unsupervised with MG at the barbecue despite knowing about the sexual abuse, allowing it to happen again.
The lawsuit states, “Upon information and belief, DEFENDANTS’ failure to take corrective action in response to the 2018 allegations at the Ignite Summer Internship was consistent with an established and ongoing modus operandi by DEFENDANTS to handle allegations of sexual abuse internally so to avoid scrutiny, public scandal, and potential financial losses from allegations of child sexual abuse becoming public information.”
The lawsuit reports that Doe also endured sexual abuse from the adult son of Refuge of Hope Associate Pastor Ruben Tavarez, Ruben Tavarez Jr.
Tavarez Jr. reportedly groomed Doe and publicly displayed inappropriate affection with her. This continued until Tavarez Jr. sexually exploited her and continued his sex abuse by engaging in graphic electronic communications with Doe.
Doe’s mother found out about Tavarez Jr. exchanging inappropriate pictures with her daughter, and Tavarez Jr. “admitted to his sexual misconduct with Jane Doe,” states the lawsuit.
Mariano and Clara Rivera owed the victim “a duty of good faith and fair dealing to act with the highest degree of trust and confidence. This included the duty to warn, disclose, and protect children, including Doe, from sexual abuse and exploitation,” states the lawsuit.
The lawsuit reports Mariano and Clara Rivera “falsely promoted their activities and premises as being safe, moral, and otherwise free of a risk of harm when it knew or should have known otherwise.”
According to the lawsuit, Mariano and Clara Rivera committed the following violations for Tavarez Jr.’s case:
“(1) failed to take necessary precautions to warn Jane Doe (or anyone else) about Tavarez [Jr.]’s propensity to sexually abuse vulnerable church members, (2) failed to adequately supervise Tavarez [Jr.], (3) failed to take appropriate remedial action when it knew or should have known of the risk created by Tavarez [Jr.], (4) failed to develop, follow, and/or enforce effective sexual abuse prevention policies and procedures, (5) failed to adequately train and supervise staff responsible for protecting the minor children entrusted to the care and custody of [Refuge of Hope], and (6) otherwise failed to act to lessen the risk that Tavarez [Jr.] would sexually abuse Jane Doe.”
The lawsuit goes on to list the Rivera’s child over sight requirements in MG’s case which were not upheld:
“(1) to maintain the barbecue’s premises in a safe condition and prevent those on the property from foreseeable harm; (2) to provide reasonably sufficient protection to Jane Doe when it was aware of the risk of harm MG posed to Jane Doe while at the barbecue; (3) to protect its guests, including the minor Jane Doe, from foreseeable harm caused by the criminal conduct of others while at the barbecue; and (4) to exercise reasonable care in the supervision, oversight, management, retention, and control of the actions and conduct of all [Refuge of Hope] employees, volunteers, and agents.”
Doe has demanded a trial by jury.
