Child rape suspect captured trying to sneak back into Wayne County from Texas
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on July 13, 2017 7:08 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Guadalupe Cruz Esquivel is led out of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office Annex Thursday night to be taken to the Magistrate's Office. Esquivel allegedly raped a 12-year-old relative Saturday night.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Guadalupe Cruz Esquivel, 36, is led into the back of a Dodge Charger by members of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office to be taken to the Magistrate's Office Thursday evening. Esquivel is charged with felony first-degree statutory rape after allegedly raping a 12-year-old relative Saturday night.
A man is in the custody of the Wayne County Jail after allegedly raping a 12-year-old child Saturday night.
Guadalupe Cruz Esquivel, 36, of 204 Greg Drive, is charged with felony first-degree statutory rape.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Office arrested him during a traffic stop Thursday after they said he fled to Texas immediately following the alleged rape.
The Sheriff's Office was notified of the incident late Saturday night, and warrants were issued for Esquivel's arrest early Sunday morning.
Maj. Richard Lewis of the Sheriff's Office said the agency received information Esquivel had fled to Texas, and that he would be re-entering North Carolina Thursday.
Lewis said deputies set up on I-95 to watch for the car he left in -- a 2008 white GMC Acadia with a yellow front license plate with children's names on it.
Deputies first spotted him in Sampson County, in the same car he had left the state in, and followed him back into Wayne County, Lewis said.
When they crossed back into the county, deputies pulled him over and arrested him without incident, Lewis said.
He was brought back to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office Annex, where he refused to talk to authorities before being taken to the Magistrate's Office.
Esquivel was led out of the annex in handcuffs and with shackles around his ankles. He wore a green collared shirt and blue jeans.
Lewis said Esquivel had a North Carolina driver's license under a fake name -- Ricardo Vasquez Cortes. Because of this, Lewis said, the License and Theft Bureau of the N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles has been notified.
Lewis also said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been notified.
"They have an interest in him, but we do not know what that interest is at this time," Lewis said.
Lewis said the alleged rape was a one-time incident, and had not been a recurring event to the knowledge of authorities.
Esquivel was given a $500,000 secured bond on the charge.