State Attorney’s Office Presents Discovery Exhibits Against ILC Head Pastor’s Son

On April 13, the Florida State Attorney's Office presented discovery exhibits against Ignite Life Center (ILC) head pastor Mark Vega’s son, Christian Vargas. 

The defendant, Vargas, is facing one count of lewd or lascivious battery and one count of lewd or lascivious conduct for allegedly raping a 12- to 13-year-old girl when he was 16 as well as sexually coercing a 14-year-old girl when he was 17–18. 

In both of the discovery exhibits, the evidence includes, but is not limited to, papers or objects obtained from Vargas, electronic surveillance of conversations, search & seizure, reports or statements of experts, witness statements, defendant statements, and co-defendant statements, i.e., statements from ILC associate pastor Jose Cruz’s son Noel Cruz, who was arrested in February on one count of lewd or lascivious battery for committing statutory rape against a 15-year-old when he was 20. 

Vargas and Cruz both have case management hearings scheduled for May 6 and May 28, respectively.

Edited Aug 6, 2025: Added photo caption and removed information reported in previous ILC articles to avoid redundancy.