Mom accused of harboring daughter

A teen with a history of running away from foster care ran away to her mom's house.

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER, Times Staff Writer
Published September 28, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Heather Esquivel, 36, was charged with sheltering an unmarried minor runaway.

LAND O'LAKES - The girl's mother was addicted to opiates. So a few years back, the state came knocking on the door and took her to foster care where she'd be safe.

But the girl hated it. So she made a habit of running away.

And when her daughter showed up at her door in August, Heather Esquivel didn't turn her away.

But harboring a runaway, daughter or not, is a crime. So the Pasco County Sheriff's Office charged Esquivel, 36, with sheltering an unmarried minor runaway on Wednesday.

"This is an unusual case," said Doug Tobin, spokesman for the sheriff's office.

In an interview at the Land O'Lakes jail Thursday night, Esquivel said her drug problem was why the state took her daughter, and that since then, the girl, now 17, would run away often and stay with friends.

She said the first time her daughter ran away to her home was on Aug. 26.

Esquivel, with long blonde hair and dark blue eyes, said her daughter started living with Esquivel and her roommate at a house in Holiday.

But the roommate and the girl butted heads. On Aug. 26, the man got into an argument with Esquivel's daughter, and Esquivel said he called authorities.

When they arrived, Esquivel said her daughter ran out a back door to get away. So a deputy told Esquivel to call the sheriff's office if her daughter returned.

Esquivel then moved to New Port Richey and got her own place. She worried about her daughter, who she hadn't seen in weeks.

Then, one day last week, the girl showed up on her doorstep.

Esquivel was relieved.

"She had things in a bookbag," she said. "I'm not sure what she said, but I was happy to see her. She hated the shelter. She said it was like jail."

The two listened to R&B music, joked around and talked. About a week later, someone tipped off authorities that a runaway was living with Esquivel.

Deputies arrested Esquivel on Wednesday at her home, 7040 Chinapa Street in New Port Richey. And her daughter is now back in foster care.

Esquivel is being held in lieu of $500 bail at the Land O'Lakes jail.

When asked Thursday if she would have done anything differently, Esquivel answered sternly.

"I haven't been the greatest mother in the world, but I'd do anything for my daughter," she said. "And I'd do this again."

Camille C. Spencer can be reached at cspencer@sptimes.com or 727 869-6229.

[Last modified September 27, 2007, 21:52:55]