Audio By Carbonatix
Favian LaTorre wasn’t too keen on paying child support, so the Dallas ISD police sergeant made his former lover an offer. Instead of forking over a specified portion of his $46,000 salary every month, he would hire a full-time, live-in nanny to help raise their young child.
The child’s mother, Gloria Palacios, agreed. She also agreed when LaTorre suggested as a candidate a 15-year-old girl, identified in federal court documents only as F.P., who had cared for the child during LaTorre’s recent trip to El Salvador.
Palacios and LaTorre, now 57, began a campaign to convince F.P.’s parents to send her to the U.S. Eventually, they settled on a deal in which LaTorre and Palacios would hire a coyote to smuggle her from El Salvador to Houston, where she would be picked up by LaTorre.
The journey was a success, and F.P. found herself in Dallas from September 2008 to February 2009 caring for the child full-time. Less successful were LaTorre and Palacios’ attempts to conceal from authorities the fact that F.P. was in the country illegally.
When news happens, Dallas Observer is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If the Dallas Observer matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
Both were arrested in December 2012 on charges of conspiring to harbor an alien. LaTorre pleaded guilty immediately. It took Palacios five months to do the same. Both were sentenced this month, Palacios to two years in prison, LaTorre to a year and a day. LaTorre was also forced to pay F.P. $10,493 in unpaid wages.
Palacios is not happy with the outcome. She has already filed a notice of appeal with the court.
