Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Nampa, Idaho, USA · 2026

United States: Costa Rican priest sentenced to 15 years for abusing a teenager in his parish

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Catholic parish priest

Organization

St. Paul's Catholic Church, Nampa

Spiritual nexus

The complainant was a teenager connected to the parish where the defendant served as priest; the office and the trust it carried are what produced the access.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2026-05-06 · conviction and sentence

    Idaho state court, United States. Robert Méndez Esquivel, a Costa Rican priest serving at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Nampa, Idaho, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for sexually abusing a 16-year-old. He had been arrested in August 2025 while serving as a priest at the parish.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • pastoral authority over a teenager connected to his parish

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting verdict and sentencing report 'Condenan a 15 años de prisión a sacerdote costarricense en Estados Unidos por abuso sexual contra un menor', Infobae, 6 May 2026.

Reports the Idaho sentence, the parish at which the defendant served, and the circumstances of his 2025 arrest.

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