A Phoenix business owner is accused of stalking a woman and falsely reporting her to the Department of Child Safety after she left a one-star review online.
Victoria Valdez hired Diamondback Security Cameras to install eight cameras outside her Tolleson home.
“There’s issues that are going on in the neighborhood, like car thefts,” Valdez said.
Valdez said owner Frank Anthony Esquibel completed the installation himself, but she was not satisfied with the results.
“It kind of looked pixelated. It looked like Minecraft,” she said. “When I brought these discrepancies up to him, he would start yelling at me.”
Valdez said she later posted a one-star review online. She said the business owner responded with personal attacks.
“Said that he had to go home and burn his clothes because my house was such a hoarding mess…” Valdez said. “And that I should be ashamed of myself because I have a child in the home.”
Months later, Valdez said a Department of Child Safety worker came to her home to investigate a report of neglect and unsanitary conditions.
“I have a 14-year-old autistic son who does not understand on the level that we do a lot of the times. So when DCS came, you know, it was harder on him. He was worried that he would be taken from us,” she said.
DCS visited the home multiple times and found no evidence of neglect or unlivable conditions, according to court documents obtained by 12News.
After each visit, often within minutes, Valdez said she received a text message from an unknown number.
“He said, ‘How did your visit go?’”
Valdez said she believes the person sending the messages may have had access to her security system.
“The only logical conclusion that I could come up with is he’s in my cameras. He’s had access to my cameras,” she said.
DCS advised Valdez to contact the police.
According to court documents, detectives traced the original DCS report and unsettling texts back to Esquibel. Police say he has a history of using fake numbers to harass women.
The 59-year-old business owner was arrested last week and charged with felony stalking.
Detectives say Esquibel admitted to calling DCS and texting Valdez in retaliation for her one-star review.
He has since been released from jail. Attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.
“All I wanted was to have cameras for protection and then it backfired,” Valdez said.
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