Bobby Pulido Faces Scrutiny as Congressional Race Heats Up Over Ties to Convicted Child Sex Offender Frankie Caballero

Bobby Pulido, a Latin Grammy Award-winning Tejano musician, is facing mounting scrutiny as he campaigns for Congress in Texas's 15th district—a battleground area stretching from San Antonio to the Mexican border. The controversy centers on his long-standing association with Frankie Caballero, a convicted child sex offender who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 for indecent contact with an eight-year-old girl. Caballero, who played accordion on Pulido's 1995 hit *Desvelado*, remains registered as a sex offender for life under Texas law.

The issue resurfaced after the New York Post revealed details of Caballero's criminal past, including a 1992 charge of aggravated sexual assault against a child, which resulted in a $75,000 bond but no public record of the case's outcome. Despite this history, Pulido and Caballero performed together in at least six cities between 2018 and 2021, even after Caballero's release from prison in 2020. A video from a 2018 Arizona concert shows Pulido introducing Caballero on stage by calling him a "bad man," a remark that has since been weaponized by critics.

Pulido's campaign manager, Abel Prado, initially dismissed the controversy as politically motivated, claiming in a Daily Mail statement that Pulido had no knowledge of Caballero's sex offender registration. "Watch the full video and it's clear what he meant," Prado said, arguing that the phrase "bad man" was meant to describe Caballero's musical style, not his criminal record. However, the timing of the comment—after Caballero's 2014 conviction and prison sentence—has raised questions about Pulido's awareness of his bandmate's history.

Caballero's criminal record extends beyond child sex offenses. Hidalgo County jail records show he was charged with 13 separate offenses, including cocaine possession, transportation of an unlawful alien from Mexico, and domestic violence. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to transporting an alien and received a 27-month prison sentence. In 2020, he was arrested for strangling a family member named Nancy Caballero, though the case was dismissed after a $2,000 bond.

More recently, Caballero faced another charge in 2023 for indecent sexual contact with a child, which was dismissed after a $100,000 bond. He was also indicted in 2024 for domestic assault and received a five-year prison sentence, though he was credited with 747 days of jail time and is set for release on parole in January 2026.

Despite Prado's assertion that Pulido stopped associating with Caballero in 2021, the musician continued to reference his former bandmate in interviews. In a November 2025 interview with the *Houston Chronicle*, Pulido described how *Desvelado* was recorded, noting that Caballero substituted for a missing keyboardist. "I said, 'F**k Brando, we're keeping the accordion,'" Pulido recalled, a statement that has reignited debates about his awareness of Caballero's criminal past.

With the 2026 congressional election approaching, the controversy over Pulido's ties to Caballero is likely to intensify. The district, which includes parts of the Rio Grande Valley, is a key target for both parties, and the allegations could influence voter perceptions. For now, the campaign insists that Pulido's comments were taken out of context, but the video evidence—and Caballero's extensive legal history—suggests a deeper entanglement that may not be easily dismissed.