Democratic congressional candidate Bobby Pulido toured with a registered sex offender for years after the man's conviction for indecent contact with an 8-year-old girl, and was caught on video at a 2018 concert making jokes that appear to reference his bandmate's criminal history, Fox News Digital reported.
Rep. Monica De La Cruz, the Republican incumbent Pulido is trying to unseat in Texas' 15th Congressional District, seized on the revelations to question Pulido's fitness for office. Her campaign says the two-time Latin Grammy Award-winning singer knowingly brought a convicted child predator into communities across South Texas and beyond for decades.
Pulido's campaign denies he ever knew about bandmate Frankie Caballero Sr.'s sex offender registration. But the timeline, stretching from Caballero's first arrest in 1992 through a 2014 felony conviction, prison time, and continued touring together until at least 2021, raises serious questions about what Pulido knew and when he knew it.
Fox News Digital reviewed YouTube video from a November 2018 concert in which Pulido introduced Caballero to the audience. During the introduction, Pulido called Caballero a "bad man" and made a reference to "Penn State", a remark a former Democratic prosecutor in Hidalgo County, Texas, told Fox News Digital could "only be inferred as either a child sex abuse joke or a reference to the fact that his friend spent four years in the state pen."
The former prosecutor added bluntly: "Both are devastating to Mr. Pulido's defense."
In the video, Caballero appeared to take a step back after the quip. Pulido then said, "No, no, I'm just kidding, don't worry." The former prosecutor told Fox News Digital he had "thoroughly reviewed this case" and concluded that "Mr. Pulido has no plausible deniability."
That concert took place roughly two years after Caballero was released from prison, where he had served time from 2014 to 2016 following his second-degree felony conviction for indecent contact with an 8-year-old girl.
Caballero's history with law enforcement goes back to 1992, when he was first arrested on child sex abuse charges in Hidalgo County. He was hit with a $75,000 bond, though the disposition of that case remains unclear. Three years later, in 1995, Pulido brought Caballero on as a collaborator. Caballero went on to receive credits on at least four of Pulido's studio albums, in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1999.
Then came the 2014 conviction. The Texas Public Sex Offender website shows Caballero was convicted in May of that year of a second-degree felony involving indecent contact with an 8-year-old female. He was incarcerated from 2014 to 2016.
After his release, Caballero resumed performing with Pulido. The New York Post reported that social media posts and videos showed Caballero appearing at Pulido concerts more than a dozen times between 2018 and 2021, in cities including Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Tucson.
The trouble did not stop there. Between 2020 and 2021, Hidalgo County jail records show Caballero was charged with indecency by sexual contact with a child, attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child, and unlawful restraint of a child under 17. Those charges were ultimately dismissed. He was also charged with assault of a family member by impeding breathing and circulation, which resulted in his release to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. On top of all that, Caballero faced charges for failure to comply with sex offender registration in both 2020 and 2021.
It is a pattern of conduct that stretches across three decades, and one that, by every available record, overlapped with Caballero's professional relationship with Pulido for most of that time. The question of Democrats dodging accountability for associations with alleged criminals is not new, but the specifics here are unusually stark.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Rep. De La Cruz framed the issue as one of community safety and judgment:
"The question isn't whether Bobby Pulido knew what his close friend did to these children, everyone knows he knew, the question is why Bobby Pulido spent decades bringing a pedophile around to our families?"
De La Cruz pointed out that Caballero had already faced child sex abuse charges when Pulido first recruited him in 1995. She said Pulido then rehired Caballero after the 2014 conviction and prison sentence, bringing him to parks and festivals across the district.
"My heart breaks up for the families whose children were victimized by the predator that Bobby Pulido brought into our neighborhoods for decades, knowing full well what he had done," De La Cruz said. "I'm raising my own kids in South Texas, and I want every family that Bobby Pulido put in danger to know I'm here for you."
De La Cruz also characterized Pulido as an absentee figure in the district, saying he "barely even lives in this country." Fox News Digital noted that Pulido spent much of his career splitting time between Mexico and South Texas.
Pulido's campaign manager, Abel Prado, told Fox News Digital that Pulido "was never made aware of Caballero's sex offender registration and would never knowingly associate with anyone with that kind of history." Prado said that when Jimmy Montez Management learned of Caballero's criminal history in 2021, "he was immediately fired and that relationship was severed."
Prado also offered sympathy on Pulido's behalf, saying: "First and foremost, Bobby extends his deepest sympathies and support to all of the victims involved." He added that "Frankie Caballero has long struggled with addiction issues and Bobby Pulido has acknowledged and attempted to help him with that battle."
The claim of ignorance, however, runs headlong into the timeline. Pulido first hired Caballero three years after the 1992 arrest. He then resumed touring with Caballero after the man served prison time on a child sex abuse conviction. And at a 2018 concert, Pulido made on-camera remarks that at minimum referenced Caballero's criminal past. The New York Post noted that bass player Ramon Rodriguez raised similar doubts, saying: "This really raises some concerns about Bobby's judgment. You get to a certain point in music where they vet everybody around you."
A spokesperson for the Pulido campaign also tried to turn the tables, calling De La Cruz's attacks a "máquina de mentiras", machine of lies, and pointing to allegations made during De La Cruz's 2021 divorce proceedings. Her ex-husband, Juan Hernandez, accused her of pinching her then-step-daughter and of being verbally abusive. A temporary restraining order was granted, but no further charges were pursued and the order was eventually dissolved.
The Pulido campaign spokesperson went further, saying Pulido "will not be lectured by Monica De La Cruz, who is the only candidate in this race who has been accused of child abuse under oath in a court of law and even had a restraining order issued against her to protect a child." But Fox News Digital reported that Hernandez himself was found guilty of assault on a peace officer in 2022, a fact that may color the weight of his accusations. Fox News Digital reached out to Caballero for comment but did not report receiving a response.
De La Cruz's campaign spokesman fired back sharply, calling the deflection an attempt to "distract from the fact that he spent decades knowingly exposing our families to a convicted pedophile." It is not the first time a Democratic candidate's personal conduct and judgment have come under intense scrutiny during a competitive House race.
Several questions hang over this story. What happened with Caballero's original 1992 arrest? The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office website shows the arrest and the $75,000 bond, but the disposition of that case remains unclear. Did Pulido, at any point between 1995 and 2021, learn about the 1992 charges, the 2014 conviction, or the sex offender registration?
The Pulido campaign says no. The former Democratic prosecutor who reviewed the case says that claim strains belief. The concert video, at minimum, shows Pulido making remarks at a public event that reference Caballero's history, remarks he immediately tried to walk back with "I'm just kidding, don't worry."
The race for Texas' 15th Congressional District is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched House contests in the country. Pulido appeared at a "Take Back Texas" campaign event in Edinburg, Texas, on February 27, 2026, alongside State Representative James Talarico. De La Cruz, who appeared at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July 2024, has made this issue central to her reelection argument.
Whether voters in South Texas accept Pulido's denial or share De La Cruz's skepticism may well determine the outcome. The broader pattern of prominent Democrats facing uncomfortable questions about their associations with individuals tied to serious criminal conduct shows no sign of fading from public attention.
And for families in the 15th District, the stakes are not abstract. A man convicted of molesting an 8-year-old girl was performing at their parks, their festivals, their concerts, for years after his conviction. The candidate who employed him says he had no idea. The video suggests otherwise.
Voters can decide for themselves whether accountability matters more than excuses. But "I didn't know" is a hard sell when you're on tape making the joke.
