Braxton Taylor
A Marine Corps recruiter was arrested last week and charged with two counts of felony child seduction after law enforcement alleged he had sex with a 17-year-old student at a recruitment office earlier this month, according to an affidavit provided to Military.com by a city official.
Investigators confronted 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Daniel Escobar — a Marine assigned to Recruiting Station Indianapolis, Indiana — at a local high school on Jan. 17 after the father of the teenager told police that his daughter “admitted to having sexual intercourse” with the recruiter a week prior to his alerting law enforcement, the affidavit said.
Law enforcement said that Escobar met the alleged victim, whose name is redacted from the affidavit, at her school and invited her to the gym with others from the recruitment office. The two then began having conversations “that became more ‘intense,” the document said, citing an interview with the teenager.
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Investigators with the La Porte Police Department alleged that the Marine and teenager “performed oral sex on each other” on multiple occasions and had “consensual sexual intercourse” on Jan. 5 at the recruiting office, which led to Escobar giving the teen his debit card to buy emergency contraception, according to the affidavit. Detectives reviewed receipts and security footage to confirm the purchase, the document said.
Escobar is expected to appear in court Friday, and his bond is listed at $15,005, according to jail records. It was unclear Thursday whether the Marine had an attorney; one was not listed in the affidavit or inmate records.
“We are aware of allegations made against a Marine assigned to the 9th Marine Corps Recruiting District,” Capt. Michael Kennedy, a spokesperson for the district headquarters, told Military.com in a statement Wednesday.
“We take all allegations seriously and are cooperating with local authorities,” he added. “The matter is currently under investigation with the La Porte County Sheriff’s Office.”
Escobar reported to the Indianapolis recruiting station in October 2023, according to his service record, which was provided by Kennedy. Escobar’s military occupational specialty is water support technician, and he joined the Marine Corps in 2016.
Kennedy did not directly confirm whether Escobar had been removed from recruiting duty, citing the “ongoing investigation,” but said, “I can tell you that when a Marine on recruiting duty has allegations levied against them, we take them seriously and they are suspended from all recruiting activities pending the outcome of the investigation.”
Escobar is one of at least three Marine recruiters known to have been accused of sex crimes against potential recruits since November. A separate recruiter was accused of obscenity in a parking lot in Louisiana in September, according to local media.
The military strictly prohibits recruiters from engaging in sexual relationships with recruits, given the inherent power imbalance between a young person looking to join the service and uniformed personnel who can decide whether that happens.
Related: California Police Arrest Marine Recruiter for Alleged Sexual Assault of 17-Year-Old
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