Leaked Audio: GPD Captain Made Contradictory Statements in Conversation with Ignite Life Center Witness
In a March 2025 conversation with an individual named as a witness in the Ignite Life Center cases, Gainesville Police Department (GPD) Captain Paris Owens made contradictory statements regarding whether or not former GPD chaplain Mark Vega had committed a crime by concealing child sexual abuse.
Police reports describe Vega initiating private meetings to conceal child sexual abuse within his church, Ignite Life Center (ILC), some of which were attended by other pastors, including his wife, Lisa Vega.
A supplemental report on one of these meetings was issued by GPD in October 2023; however, Mark Vega wasn't charged with failing to report suspected child abuse until August 2025. According to the supplemental report, Jose Cruz, at the time an associate pastor, assisted Vega with initiating a meeting that regarded his 20-year-old son, Noel Cruz, engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl. Jose Cruz has not been charged, nor have any other pastors involved.
Mark Vega's charging affidavit further describes how he helped cover up Noel Cruz's sex offenses, along with similar offenses committed by his own son, Christian Vargas.
The affidavit outlines several more instances of Mark Vega's concealment, one being that he failed to reprimand Gabriel Hemenez in 2019 after he sexually assaulted a 22-year-old man. Mark Vega allowed Hemenez to remain in the church and allowed him to lead children during the 2021 ILC Summer Internship. Hemenez would later be convicted for molesting children during said internship, offenses Vega also reportedly concealed.
Records from GPD show they had evidence of Mark Vega's concealment in the Hemenez cases as early as February 2023. The GPD incident/investigative report states that a minor victim believed Mark Vega reported Hemenez to police in October 2022, but the officer was "not able to locate anything in [their] Computer Aided Dispatch."
Capt. Owens Conversation with Witness:
On March 3, 2025, the witness spoke with Owens over the phone regarding the ILC cases and asked why Mark and Lisa Vega weren't being held accountable.
"The Vegas didn't commit any crime," replied Owens.
"Covering up sexual abuse isn't a crime?" Questioned the witness.
Owens responded, "We don't know the intent ma'am. I cannot sit here and tell you that, without having done a complete investigation regarding this situation, I can't sit here and tell you why they were or were not charged. An investigation has to be done into that type of situation. If they don't find that they had knowledge or intent to commit any type of crime, then of course we're not going to charge that."
The witness told Owens that the Vegas previously told a victim they made a report when they did not, causing the victim to have to follow up on their own. The witness then asked if that was covering up child sexual abuse.
"I can't tell you that," replied Owens. "Because I don't know the particulars of that, ma'am. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you yes or no without having all of the specifics on that."
The witness cited the victim coming forward in a report, and Owens responded, "I don't know anything about that particular investigation, so as I said, I cannot speak on that... I don't wanna speak out of turn."
Four days later, the witness and Owens spoke again. The witness further inquired about Owens' statement regarding the Vegas not committing a crime. Owens replied, "I didn't say that... I said I do not know the specifics of what was going on with that particular case... I never said they weren't going to be charged because I wouldn't say that if I didn't—I don't have that information so I can't tell you that."
The witness referenced a supplemental report that clearly shows ILC leaders handled child sexual abuse in-house, and offered to send it to Owens.
Owens replied, "No, you asked me why they weren't charged. I told you I would not have the information as to why they weren't charged... I'm the captain of the bureau, I don't work the cases."
The witness again offered to send Owens the supplemental report. Owens said if there's something she "needs to look into" then she "has access to that information." Owens said, "That's not the conversation that we had."
The witness replied, "In the conversation that we had I asked why they hadn't been charged and you said you didn't know the intent. Those were your words... You said they hadn't committed a crime."
"I did not say that," replied Owens. "I said I don't know the specifics."
The witness went on to say, "It's been over a year now... All of this could've been avoided and all these children wouldn't have been sexually abused had they made the initial report, so the fact they're still free..."
"That's your opinion and you're entitled to that," said Owens.
"It's a fact," said the witness. "They're still working with sister churches. They're still working with immigrant children. These children are all being [put] in a position where they can still be abused because this is being covered up. This is a fact. How do they still have access to children when there's a report and there's several victims?"
Owens asked the witness what she wanted to know specifically.
The witness asked, "How do two people that are leading the church... in charge of keeping these children safe, how are they handling sexual abuse inside the church, covering it up, not making police reports, how are they not being held accountable? That is my question. They knew that Christian was having sex with minors. They covered it. They knew that Noel was having sex with minors. They covered it. I reported it... Why did Gabriel, [Christian, and Noel] get arrested... [while] the adults that were in charge... and covered for them, why are they not arrested? Why isn't pastor [Jose Cruz charged]?"
Owens claimed there wasn't proof, and the witness responded that there was proof in the pastors having a meeting and that they "admitted to having a meeting."
Owens told the witness that she didn't want their conversation to "become contentious" and said she would get back to her with answers.
The witness told GnvInfo that Owens did not follow up with her about charges for Mark Vega. Owens was no longer working in criminal investigations by the time he was arrested.
As of now, Capt. Summer Hallett is the head of criminal investigations for GPD.
The witness maintains that other pastors implicated in the concealment of child sexual abuse should be arrested and charged, such as Lisa Vega, Jose Cruz, Esther Omeben and Nicholas Bruce. She is pushing for GPD and the state to press more charges.
Audio Files
