By GvilleTX Newsroom
Cooke County authorities said an Aug. 19 search warrant at an FM 1306 residence near Gainesville High School led to the arrest of Alex Gabriel Buenos Aires, 21, on a possession-of-child-pornography charge involving a child younger than 10. The nearby law-enforcement activity briefly moved Gainesville High into SECURE status, though the school said the matter was not connected to the campus and students and staff were safe.
The Cooke County Sheriff’s Office said the search was carried out Wednesday morning in Gainesville in the area of the high school. Gainesville High’s official campus page lists the school at 2201 S. I-35. The sheriff’s office said Buenos Aires was arrested after the warrant and booked on the child-pornography possession charge.
KXII published a report on the search and resulting charge the same day.
Gainesville High said it entered SECURE status because law enforcement was working nearby. The school’s statement is the source for the campus status, the statement that the activity was unrelated to GHS, and the return to normal operations. GHS said students and staff were safe.
The allegation described by the sheriff’s office falls under Texas Penal Code Section 43.26, which covers possession or promotion of child pornography. The statute includes an enhancement when the material depicts a child younger than 10. Under Texas Penal Code Section 12.32, a first-degree felony conviction can carry a prison term of life or five to 99 years, plus a possible fine of up to $10,000.
Federal records show the Cooke County Sheriff’s Office has been listed in North Texas child-exploitation enforcement work before this week’s case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas listed the agency among participants in Operation Soteria Shield in 2025. FBI Dallas said the 2026 version of that effort, conducted in March and April, resulted statewide in hundreds of child-exploitation arrests and dozens of children rescued.
The national Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program says it coordinates 61 task forces representing more than 6,200 federal, state, local law-enforcement and prosecutorial agencies. Texas’ FY2027 ICAC grant program says funding for the work is meant to support forensic capacity, investigations, training, victim services and community education tied to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation.
_Editor's note: Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law._
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