Former O'Donnell coach found guilty of enticement in federal court
A federal judge found a former O'Donnell High School teacher and coach guilty of felony enticement Friday after he spent nearly a month last fall sending inappropriate sexual text messages, photos and video to a 14-year-old girl in an apparent attempt to groom her into having sexual contact with him.
U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix convicted Nicholas Dominique Bueno, 27, on one count of enticement and attempted enticement of a minor, an offense that carries a punishment of 10 years to life in federal prison.
Bueno also pleaded guilty on Tuesday to three counts of of transfer of obscene material to a minor in connection with the same incident. Each of those counts is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Bueno, a former science teacher and head boys basketball coach at O'Donnell, was arrested on Oct. 19, 2022 after Lynn County Sheriff's Office and Texas Department of Public Safety investigations revealed Bueno had continually sent obscene messages to a 14-year-old student beginning Sept. 23.
Bueno was in his first year at O'Donnell ISD and had previously taught at Seagraves and Lamesa.
Investigators testified a student told school administrators she overheard another student discussing inappropriate text messages she received from Bueno.
School officials called the sheriff's office and an investigator met with the student and her mother and learned that Bueno asked the girl for her cell phone number as they rode a school bus home from Nazareth after a football game.
The girl testified Friday that the encounter made her feel "uncomfortable" and "weirded out" and that Bueno began texting her inappropriately the next day. Prosecutors noted Bueno sent the freshman girl around 1,750 text messages over the course of 22 days.
The communication ended when school officials learned of it. The girl told police Bueno deleted the messages from her phone, but since the iPhone operating system allows users to recover deleted content, investigators restored the messages.
Investigators found nearly a monthlong string of inappropriate and explicit messages Bueno sent the girl, including two photos of Bueno's genitalia. They also found a video Bueno sent the girl in which he can be seen performing a sexual act.
Bueno also asked the 14-year-old to send him nude photos.
Investigators spoke with Bueno, who initially denied communicating with the girl outside school. However, he ultimately admitted to it after he was confronted with the recovered messages.
Bueno told investigators he used a "secret phone" to hide his actions from his wife. He said he destroyed and discarded the device when he learned school officials found out about the messages.
More: Former O'Donnell school employee admits to sending student obscene messages
During another bus ride after a football game, Bueno put his foot under the girl's blanket and rubbed her thigh with his foot, the girl told the court.
The girl testified Bueno asked her to come to his classroom alone on multiple occasions and asked her to come to lunch with him the same day he sent her the explicit video. She did not go with him and said she believed Bueno would have attempted to have physical sexual contact with her during the lunch.
Bueno's attorney, Jacob Austin Blizzard of Abilene, argued Bueno never took a "substantial step" toward initiating physical sexual contact, which is required for an enticement conviction. Blizzard argued that because Bueno and the victim never planned a specific time and place for in-person sexual contact, a substantial step could not be proven.
DPS Special Agent Roy Basham testified the lunch invitation was a substantial step, akin to Bueno "shooting his shot."
"You're not coming over just to make a quiche," Basham said.
The government contended that the totality of the evidence in the case constituted a substantial step for the purposes of the charge. The prosecution's argument ultimately prevailed.
Bueno did not testify in his own defense at the bench trial Friday morning, which lasted about six hours.
Bueno will appear in federal court at a later date for sentencing. He faces up to life in prison.
The Avalanche-Journal's Gabriel Monte contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Former O'Donnell coach found guilty of enticement in federal court
