While a priest, this Nampa man sexually abused a minor. He was just sentenced
A former Catholic priest in Nampa who pleaded guilty in a sexual abuse case involving a teenager was handed a 15-year sentence Wednesday but could be eligible for parole long before then.
Robert Mendez Esquivel, 45, also known as Father Toto, was arrested in August 2025 on suspicion of three felonies: rape of a 16-year-old, and two counts of child sexual battery, after police investigated a crime resulting from Mendez Esquivel meeting the victim on a dating app.
Mendez Esquivel was serving as a priest at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Nampa at the time of the crime, on Aug. 14, 2025, and the subsequent arrest.
In January, he signed a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to one count of child sexual battery by lewd or lascivious acts.
Mendez Esquivel stood in front of Canyon County District Judge Davis VanderVelde on Wednesday and was handed a 15-year sentence, but court records show that only three years are fixed, meaning Mendez Esquivel could be eligible for parole after that time.
The victim provided a statement the prosecuting attorney shared during sentencing, according to a news release from Canyon County. The victim said being victimized caused a “lasting emotional toll.”
“I have not attended court because I feel ashamed and embarrassed of what happened,” the victim wrote. “I hope I can come to terms with what happened, but I don’t know if I ever will.”
The priest met the teen through a dating app
According to the affidavit of probable cause, police learned of the incident when the victim, who was 16, contacted police about an encounter with a man met through a dating app. The minor said the man identified himself using only his first name.
Investigators outlined in the court document that on Aug. 14, 2025, Esquivel connected with the teen, who initially claimed to be 18. Esquivel eventually learned the victim’s real age, continued the conversation and arranged an in-person meeting. The man picked up the teenager on Aug. 14 and they drove to Lyons Park in Nampa, according to the affidavit.
At the park, the victim performed a sexual act on Mendez Esquivel at his request in the car, the document stated.
During the investigation, police found the vehicle’s license plate using cameras in the area, and then used that information, along with details provided by the teen, to identify the then-priest as the suspect.
Judge: ‘Absolutely wrong and unacceptable in our society’
During sentencing, Deputy Prosecutor Kara Przybos requested the court hand down a 20-year sentence with five years fixed. Przybos called Mendez Esquivel’s crimes “one of the most heinous acts an adult can commit,” the prosecutor’s office release stated.
Mendez Esquivel’s defense attorney, Mistie Bauscher, asked the court to consider ordering retained jurisdiction, followed by probation. When retained jurisdiction is ordered, the defendant goes through a treatment program with the Idaho Department of Correction, and once completed, the judge may decide whether to continue with a prison sentence or allow the rest of the time to be served through probation.
Bauscher noted that the victim had initially misrepresented their age on the app and said the teen initiated contact with Mendez Esquivel. Bauscher said Mendez Esquivel has a low risk to reoffend and is amenable to treatment, and also expressed “significant remorse.”
VanderVelde rejected the request for retained jurisdiction, calling the incident “absolutely wrong and not acceptable in our society,” according to the release.
During his plea hearing in January, Mendez Esquivel said the crime was the “worst mistake” of his life.
“I offended God and I offended all of these beautiful people in my community of Nampa,” he said during the hearing. “And to the victim, I did something horrible ... to satisfy my lust, and I completely repent for that.”
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