By Workers Reporter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Christian David Vargas, 22, is dealing with authorized bother after being arrested on April 7. The arrest warrant accuses him of lewd and lascivious battery involving a sufferer below 16. This marks the third allegation in opposition to Vargas, who has been charged with partaking in sexual actions with minors. All reported incidents passed off at Ignite Life Heart, positioned at 404 NW thirteenth Avenue, the place Vargas’s father, Mark Vega, served because the senior pastor.
Mark Vega himself is dealing with prices for allegedly failing to report suspected little one abuse. He’s accused of being conscious of situations the place younger males engaged in sexual actions with underage women on the church and never alerting authorities. Amongst these concerned, Gabriel Hernandez obtained a five-year jail sentence, whereas Noel Cruz was sentenced to 3 years of probation. The authorized proceedings in opposition to Vargas, in two separate circumstances, proceed.
For extra info on the preliminary circumstances involving Vargas, click on right here.
The latest criticism in opposition to Vargas was filed in July 2023, primarily based on an announcement from the sufferer, who was 15 on the time of the alleged occasions. The sufferer and her household had been a part of the Ignite Life Heart congregation. She knowledgeable a detective from the Gainesville Police Division that she and Vargas, then 17, exchanged flirtatious and sexual messages by way of Discord and Snapchat.
The sufferer recounted that their first assembly for sexual exercise occurred in June 2021 in a church room often known as “The Furnace,” which featured a sofa. They reportedly met once more three days later in “The Covenant Room,” which was outfitted with cots and mattresses in preparation for the Ignite Life Summer time Internship program. Their encounters continued in “The Furnace” and a locked room above the principle sanctuary, which Vargas accessed with a code. Their final reported conferences passed off in December 2021 in a males’s lavatory close to “The Furnace.”
The sufferer reportedly stated that Vargas informed her to purchase condoms and to get a “Plan B” tablet as a result of his dad and mom watched him “like a hawk,” so he couldn’t make the purchases. She stated their conferences had been temporary as a result of Vargas needed to “sneak away” to fulfill her.
The detective reported that in messages from December 2021, the sufferer informed Vargas she didn’t need to have something extra to do with him, and Vargas reportedly pleaded together with her to proceed having intercourse with him; he reportedly supplied to provide her vapes (containing nicotine and/or marijuana) if she would proceed having intercourse with him.
Vargas has been charged with lewd and lascivious battery with a sufferer below the age of 16. He has no native legal historical past however is dealing with two different circumstances with comparable prices. Choose Robert Groeb set bail at $250,000 within the warrant for Vargas’s arrest, and Vargas has posted bail.
Articles about arrests are primarily based on stories from legislation enforcement businesses. The fees listed are taken from the arrest report and/or courtroom information and are solely accusations. All suspects are harmless till confirmed responsible in a courtroom of legislation
