Sherman County man sentenced in child grooming case
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - A Stratford man’s recent guilty plea is the second conviction of its kind in the Texas Panhandle.
Christopher Orosco Gomez, 56, pleaded guilty to a charge of child grooming on March 16.
He will spend two years in prison for the third-degree felony offense.
A Sherman County grand jury indicted Gomez in November, following an investigation by the Texas Rangers.
The investigation centered around reports of Gomez displaying inappropriate behavior with a juvenile at the Stratford Country Club.
Gomez is listed as the manager or superintendent for the private golf course on several web directories.
Texas enacted the child grooming law (or Section 15:032) on Sept. 1, 2023. It is intended to criminalize predatory behavior used by adults to entice, coerce, induce or persuade a child to engage in sexual activity.
In 2025, the law was updated to make child grooming a reportable offense. As a result, any conviction or adjudication will result in mandatory registration as a sex offender.
The Texas Department of Public Safety’s arrest and conviction records show the implementation of the law across the state.
In 2024, there were 76 arrests made for child grooming in the state of Texas. In 2025, there were 110 arrests made, one of whom was Gomez.
In 2024, there are 22 convictions for child grooming. In 2025, there are only 5 recorded convictions.
The DPS records indicate that Gomez’s conviction for child grooming in Sherman County is the second conviction recorded in the Texas Panhandle.
The first conviction happened in Randall County in 2024.
Additional data from the DPS records are:
Arrests for child grooming in the Texas Panhandle
- Dallam County- 4 Arrests (2025)
- Gray County- 3 Arrests (2025)
- Randall County- 1 arrest (2024)
- Sherman County - 1 arrest (2025)
- Wheeler County - 1 arrest (2024)
Convictions for child grooming in the Texas Panhandle
- Randall - 1 conviction (2024)
Arrests in Texas for child grooming
- 2023 - 3 arrests
- 2024- 76 arrests
- 2025- 110 arrests
The arrest and conviction records maintained and provided by the Texas DPS show that they were last updated on January 13, 2026.
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