Three new criminal charges were filed in March and a civil lawsuit this month against Gabriel Hemenez, former member of the Gainesville based Ignite Life Center and volunteer at its summer camp.
Hemenez now faces three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation by an offender 18 or older, according to court records. Hemenez is serving a five-year sentence in Lancaster Work Camp in Trenton, followed by eight years of supervised probation and lifelong registration as a sexual offender.
WUFT obtained a sworn complaint affidavit from the Gainesville Police Department showing the new allegations. The case remains open, and confessions that police said the defendant made are redacted. According to the affidavit, police interviewed an accuser who told his mother Hemenez molested him on three occasions at night during the summer program at the church in July 2021.
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All accusers in the Hemenez criminal and civil cases are young boys, according to court records.
Police interviewed Hemenez in the detention facility where he is serving time. After receiving his Miranda rights and explaining that the accuser came forward, Hemenez said "Yeah, I don't remember that happening at all. If I remember ... I think the victim had a top bunk." Hemenez was questioned about his statement that "I don't remember it happening and I'm pretty sure it didn't happen."
On the civil delegation site, attorney Jessica Arbour is representing the accuser in the fifth Orange County lawsuit filed against Ignite Life Center and the Florida Multicultural District of the Assemblies of God.
Three lawsuits were filed in March 2024 alleging that both the center and the district council were negligent in their responsibility to protect the accuses and failed to intervene despite knowledge of the abuse. The plaintiffs, who were minors during the camp, said they were sexually assaulted by Hemenez during the center's summer program. In October 2024, all three lawsuits were settled through mediation.
Arbour, who is with the Horowitz Law Firm, said her clients from current and previous lawsuits are declining to speak publicly about the case at this time.
A separate lawsuit filed in February by another firm, Steven A. Bagen & Associates of Gainesville, is still pending. It involves Christian Vargas, son of the center's head pastor, Mark Vega. The lawsuit alleges Vargas committed sexual abuse while working for the center and Florida Multicultural District.
On July 1, the Horowitz Law firm filed a negligence and vicarious liability lawsuit against both entities. The lawsuit is connected to Hemenez's three new sexual abuse charges and alleges that entities failed to stop Hemenez from sexually abusing the plaintiff. The claim is for damages in excess of $50,000 and is demanding a jury trial.
"It's our hope that we do get to present the case to a jury and the jury gets to ultimately decide who is liable and how much that costs them. But certainly, it's not unusual in cases to have an approach to ask to resolve a case short of the jury trial," Abour said.
Arbour is not involved in the criminal prosecution. As of Wednesday, court records show that Hemenez criminal arrest report was filed in March but the case hasn't been formally filed by the State Attorney's Office. Darry Lloyd, chief investigator in the State Attorney's Office, said there was no timeline of when charges would be filed.
As outlined in the lawsuit, Ignite Life Center was subject to the authority and oversight of the camp including:
- Developing and enforcing sexual abuse prevention policies and procedures.
- Training, supervising and evaluating employees for fitness, including, but not limited to Vega and other pastors responsible for protecting children.
- Operating a summer program.
In this case, Hemenez was employed at the program and had to "reside in the dormitory with underaged boys and was generally responsible for their care and supervision." The legal filing claims that entities "committed additional acts and omissions regarding Hemenez's sexual abuse of plaintiff that have not yet been made public but made the plaintiff vulnerable to sexual abuse by Hemenez."
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff and his mother attended services at Refuge of Hope owned by former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera in New York City. While there, they were introduced to Rivera's friend and business partner, Vega. Early this year, Horowitz Law Firm filed a lawsuit in New York City against Refuge of Hope, where Rivera and his wife, Clara, are mentioned in the claim individually.
Arbour, who filed the claim, says they are mentioned because "there was an incident of abuse at their home while they were hosting a church party. The abuse in that case is alleged to have begun at Ignite Life Center."
This is a case involving one child sexually abusing a younger child, and the abuse not only occurred in Florida but also in New York, Arbour affirms. The lawsuit where Rivera and his wife are mentioned is still in the early stage of written discovery, expecting depositions to start later this year.
"During the discovery process, we are also trying to do something called a site inspection. Where we actually walk through the church to preserve evidence and the layout of the church," Arbour said.
WUFT reached out to Ignite Life Center, the Florida Multicultural District of the Assemblies of God and Refuge of Hope for comments regarding the allegations but received no responsed.
Meantime, Noel Cruz, the son of the center's former assistant pastor, also faces charges related to sexual abuse and assault. Cruz entered a plea deal in January for one count of aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and was sentenced to 36 months of probation with a possible early termination of his sentences at 18 months if he completes all conditions and doesn't violate his probation.
Vargas, was arrested in July 2023 on two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior, a second-degree felony. Vargas has been on pretrial release with a GPS monitor for the past two years.
In a recent motion, Gilbert Schaffnit, Vargas' attorney, shared that depositions of state witnesses have been completed and the defense and the prosecution have initiated a plea negotiation: "It is extremely unlikely that the case will proceed to trial, but rather that the cases herein will result in a negotiated plea. Moreover, it is likely that the case will conclude in the next (60) days." Vargas' next court date is scheduled for Aug. 18.
Accountability is what has driven the victims to speak about the abuse, Arbour said.
"In order for a child to be sexually abused at a church, in a summer camp, in a boys program or in a school classroom, there have to be systemic failures with the leadership of those entities" she said.
The criminal proceeding is about holding the abuser accountable, she said. However, she added, most of the time it leaves this other aspect of accountability open, and that's when the system and leadership fail.
Civil lawsuits bring a sense to the victims that the entity was responsible and held accountable for what happened., she said, and at the same time it's an incentive for all entities to make sure that children are protected in the future because it's expensive if entities fail to do so.
"It is not about me. It's not about money," she said. "I just want to make sure this never happens to someone else again."
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