Another former Texas teacher has been handed a federal prison sentence for an inappropriate relationship with a student.
Nicholas Dominique Bueno, 28, was previously employed as a science teacher and head boys’ basketball coach at O’Donnell High School in O’Donnell Independent School District, located south of Lubbock. He also worked previously at Seagraves and Lamesa ISDs.
Authorities launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct with a 14-year-old student at O’Donnell ISD last October.
Although Bueno initially denied the accusations, the investigating team uncovered thousands of messages between him and the student between September 23 and October 18, 2022. He later admitted to the inappropriate correspondence using a second phone he attempted to destroy prior to the authorities’ investigation.
The news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas described most of the messages between Bueno and the student as “controlling, grooming, sexual, and enticing in nature.”
“I didn’t pursue you to be in the f****** friend zone,” Bueno allegedly wrote in one message.
In Texas, a newly passed law (SB 1527) aimed at combating sex trafficking and child pornography crimes raised the offense of “grooming” a victim under age 18 to a state felony.
Grooming is defined as when “the person knowingly persuades, induces, entices, or coerces, or attempts to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce, a child younger than 18 years of age to engage in specific conduct” that is sexual in nature.
Yet Bueno was convicted of federal crimes, and whether he will face state charges is unknown. These crimes include the enticement and attempted enticement of a minor, as well as three counts of transfer of obscene material to a minor.
After serving 240 months in federal prison, Bueno must pay $5,000 to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, a federal program to prevent trafficking and rehabilitate its victims.
Bueno will also face 25 years of supervised release upon the completion of his sentence. His Texas teaching certification is currently valid yet “under review” by the Texas Education Agency’s Educator Investigations Division, according to the Texas Scorecard.
A wave of Texas educators, coaches, school resource officers, public officials, and others have been accused and even convicted of having inappropriate relationships with minors.
As reported in The Dallas Express, a superintendent from Itasca ISD was arrested in a sex-sting operation this June after allegedly planning a trip to Houston to meet and engage in sexual acts with an underage girl who turned out to be an undercover police officer.
“You must make it a priority to know what your children are doing online,” said Harris County Constable Alan Rosen, noting that seven others were arrested in the operation. “As you can see by this sting operation, there are dangerous predators out there grooming our children and can cause great harm.”
In Dallas, overall sexual offense crimes have remained high throughout 2023. There have been 604 cases reported as of October 17, according to the Dallas crime analytics overview dashboard.