Esquivel

A former Marshalltown Community School District teacher received a 90-day jail sentence with all but 14 days suspended during a hearing held at the Max Building on Tuesday morning.

Mark Edward Farris Esquivel, 27, appeared before Judge Stephen Owen with his counsel, attorney Joel Waters of Kaplan and Frese LLP, and Assistant Marshall County Attorney Torey Cuellar represented the State of Iowa.

Esquivel was originally charged with sexual exploitation of a student by a school employee, a Class D felony, when he was arrested in June of 2021, but last month, he entered a plea of guilty to three counts of third degree harassment, each a simple misdemeanor. Cuellar told Judge Owen that the victim and her parents had been notified of the opportunity to attend the hearing and provide a victim impact statement but declined both.

Waters did not present any new evidence other than a professional statement and argument, and Cuellar asked the judge to take notice of a criminal history report filed in July of 2021, which indicates that Esquivel has no prior criminal record. The defense asked that Esquivel’s entire sentence be suspended with a year of probation imposed and a $105 fine with a 15 percent criminal surcharge on each count plus court costs, while the prosecution countered that all but 14 days should be suspended.

In making his recommendation, Waters cited Esquivel’s lack of criminal history, the nonviolent nature of the offense, the fact that he has surrendered his teaching license, his compliance with the conditions of his pretrial release, his service in the National Guard and his employment in California, where he now resides.

“As of right now, it’s the defense’s stance that my client has done everything he’s supposed to do. He’s showed the court and the state that he’s a good candidate for probation,” Waters said. “He is, additionally, not somebody that has given any trouble to anybody in this entire process. Just given the history and the nature of the case, I think it’s fair to suspend a 90-day sentence.”

Cuellar reiterated her request that all but 14 days of the sentence be suspended and agreed that Esquivel should be placed on supervised probation for one year. The state, she added, would not resist a transfer to California if he was accepted by the interstate compact, and she agreed with the fines Waters suggested with the caveat that Category A restitution could be claimed within 30 days. She also asked that a no-contact order with the victim be extended for five years.

“It’s true that he was involved in the community and the military and was employed at the time of these offenses. However, it was while he was in this position of authority with the military — and as a teacher — that he had access to the victim and put himself in the position to commit these crimes,” Cuellar said. “The defendant has demonstrated that his support system and his law-abiding history was not enough to deter him here, and more alarmingly, he used his position in the community to have this kind of communication with the minor victim. He and others need to be similarly deterred from this kind of behavior, and the actions have had an effect on the victim and her family.”

Esquivel declined to make a statement on his own behalf. Judge Owen briefly deliberated before imposing the prosecution’s recommendation with credit for time served, stipulating that the defendant will be required to complete the jail sentence on consecutive days within six months.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.