"Something Really Off" Police Bodycam Reveals Victim’s Concerns About Ignite Life Center Pastor

Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage shows a victim in one of the Ignite Life Center (ILC) cases has concerns about a pastor with the church, Adolfo Gomez, who also works as a chaplain for UF Health & Shands. The victim doesn’t press any specific allegations against Gomez, but shares her thoughts on his behavior in the church.

Since July 2023, three people from ILC have been arrested for sex crimes against children: (1) Gabriel Hemenez, who's been charged for several victims, (2) Christian Vargas, who's been charged for two victims, and (3) Noel Cruz, who was charged for one victim. 

BWC Records Request Information:

In May 2025, the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) Records Division attempted to complete a public records request for BWC footage relating to the ILC cases. Arrest footage was requested; however, GPD Records responded with footage involving victims that was not requested, including an extensive police interview with one of them.

GPD Records redacted the victims’ faces, but the footage is botched in a few small but noticeable moments, revealing sensitive information about victims’ family members. Even if the footage was properly redacted, it still couldn’t be published, as the victims may be identifiable to those known to them.

Victim’s Comments:

In the footage provided by GPD Records, a victim in one of the cases was asked by GPD detectives what she thinks about ILC leaders, prompting her to bring up Gomez. Detectives asked her what she thought about him, and after a few seconds of silence, she said, “There’s something wrong with him.” Detective Ranisha Johnson asked her why she thinks that. 

The victim replied, “Being around him for so long, during the camp and stuff—I don’t know, there’s something really off.”

Near the end of the interview, Johnson asked the victim if she could be more specific with Gomez’s behavior, asking if he’d done “anything like touching or making girls feel uncomfortable.” 

The victim responded, “He seemed—yeah, very like that, but I was tending to keep my distance from people like that; I don’t wanna put myself in a situation like that.” She later clarified nobody ever said Gomez touched them but said some of the girls mentioned something was weird about him, and they all agreed something was off.

Johnson asked what was off about Gomez.

The victim replied, “He’s just one of those people that you got a vibe from him that you should just like stay away.” She said she “always kept her distance” from Gomez and that whenever she was around him, she got a “gut-feeling” to stay away. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be some sort of like shitty person,” said the victim about Gomez.

The victim also briefly mentioned the head pastor of ILC, Mark Vega, saying she believes he knew about child sexual abuse within the church. She emphasized that there are lots of cameras in the building and that it would be unlikely for a head pastor to be unaware of misconduct within his own church. 

Whistleblower’s Prior Comments:

Over the past two years, several whistleblowers have anonymously and publicly spoken with GnvInfo about abuses in ILC. One of the anonymous whistleblowers said Gomez made him “sleep on a hard floor as a discipline technique.” 

The whistleblower went on to say he opened up to Gomez and other church leaders about his girlfriend experiencing a miscarriage. He said Gomez compared the miscarriage to David, from the Bible, losing his firstborn because of sin.

Gomez’s Pastoral Positions:

Gomez advertises his position of chaplain at UF Health & Shands on his Facebook.

A November 2024 Instagram post corroborates Gomez’s position at UF Health & Shands. The post also describes him as an Assembly of God youth pastor. 

Gomez was mentioned in a news release published by UF Health & Shands last year for officiating a wedding at the hospital.

Adolfo Gomez and his wife, Nicole Gomez, serve as core leaders of ILC under Vega. The church remains active despite several criminal cases and civil lawsuits relating to sexual abuse within the congregation.