Pastor’s Son May Take Plea Deal in Sex Abuse Cases, Lawyer Reveals He Has Private Investigator
At his June 6 case management hearing, Christian Vargas’s lawyer, Gilbert Schaffnit, indicated he may take a plea deal in his sex abuse cases.
Vargas June 6 case management hearing (Alachua County Court Records)
Vargas was arrested in July 2023 on two counts of lewd or lascivious behavior for allegedly raping a 12- to 13-year-old girl when he was 16 and sexually coercing a 14-year-old girl when he was 17–18. The incidents occurred at Ignite Life Center (ILC) church. He’s been out on bond for two years.
Vargas is the son of ILC head pastor Mark Vega.
Vargas was not present at the hearing due to previously waiving his appearance at pretrial conferences in place of his legal counsel.
Schaffnit told Chief Judge William Davis, “We are pretty much done with the depositions in the cases; there’s just one set for, I think, July 1, but to be honest with the court, we probably need to set it on a change of plea docket with this court and see if we can resolve it before that depo.”
Schaffnit was referencing the deposition of former Urban Strategies Prevention of Sexual Abuse Compliance Manager, Rob Moramarco.
Urban Strategies is the organization that partnered with ILC to house unaccompanied immigrant minors at the church until their contract ended in the summer of 2024.
Moramarco is one of the witnesses in the civil lawsuit against Christian Vargas for sexual battery, with ILC and the Florida Multicultural District of the Assemblies of God being named co-defendants for negligence and vicarious liability.
Court records show that Moramarco gave his deposition on July 1.
During the hearing, Schaffnit said he needs some time to coordinate a meeting with the State Attorney’s Office and his private investigator from Tallahassee.
One of the state attorneys asked Schaffnit if Vargas would be taking an open plea, meaning he would go into the plea deal without a prior sentencing agreement with the State.
“It depends on the results of our meeting,” replied Schaffnit, before laughing to himself.
The state attorney said she thinks the change of plea hearing would go quickly if the terms are negotiated but that it may take an hour if it’s an open plea. Schaffnit agreed, saying an open plea may cause individuals to want to weigh in on the cases.
Davis said, “Why don’t we just set this for case management in July with the understanding we’re going to coordinate a change of plea date… We’ll set this for July 14 case management with that understanding that it's just for tracking.”
Court records show Vargas’ next case management hearing will take place Monday at 2:00 p.m. in room 3-A at the Alachua County Criminal Courthouse (220 S. Main St).
More information on ILC is available in the investigation below.
