A 28-year-old man was arrested last week after he was accused of sexually abusing children while volunteering at a church in Gainesville.
On February 7, 2023, the Gainesville Police Department’s Special Victims Unit (SVU) began investigating a report of sexual abuse that had occurred at Ignite Life Center located at 404 NW 14th Avenue in Gainesville.
According to police, a male victim told investigators that he was sexually abused by Gabriel Hemenez while attending the Ignite Youth Internship in July of 2021. Hemenez was a volunteer and church member of Ignite Life Center, and he interacted with minors on a regular basis from 2018 to 2023.
In a social media post, GPD stated that an investigation revealed that Hemenez had sexually abused several minors while they attended the church’s Youth Internship in July of 2021, which is a month-long overnight camp.
On Thursday, July 6, 2023, Gainesville detectives traveled to Lakeland and made contact with Hemenez. During an interview, he confessed to inappropriately touching three minors and one adult, and he was placed under arrest, according to GPD.
Hemenez has been charged with two counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and one count of attempted sexual battery of a minor. GPD stated that the investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending.
If anyone has any additional information regarding this investigation, or if you feel that you may be a victim, the Gainesville Police Department asks that you contact Detective Johnson via phone (352-393-7656) or email (Johnsonrl@cityofgainesville.org).