Albert Sanchez, 39, had been with the department since 2008.
SAN ANTONIO — (Editor’s note: The above video is from an earlier coverage of this story.)
A San Antonio police officer has been indicted on two dozen counts of child pornography after his cell phone allegedly contained multiple explicit photos of underage children. His trial date has not yet been set.
39-year-old Albert Sanchez Jr., who had been with the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) for 16 years, was initially reported on Jan. 5 by someone who told police he admitted to being “engaged in sexual conduct with juveniles,” according to a release. He was placed on administrative leave right way as an investigation began.
On Jan. 8, 2024, SAPD says investigators obtained a search warrant for Sanchez’s phone and found the unspecified number of images. He was arrested without incident three days later for charges of possession/promotion of child pornography, and subsequently suspended without pay. According to jail records, he bonded out the next day.
On Wednesday, nearly a year later, Sanchez was indicted by a grand jury on 24 counts of possession of child pornography. Court documents name Aracili V. Garcia as a codefendant, but it’s unclear what her role or relationship to Sanchez is.
Documents obtained by KENS 5 reveal disturbing details about the nature of the materials found on his phone over the course of two months, from late December 2022 to late February 2023. More than half of his 24 counts pertain to “lewd” imagery he had in his possession around Christmastime, from Dec. 22-27, the indictments claim.
Some of the photos obtained were sexually explicit images of two young girls, records show. According to the indictment, Sanchez is seen in some of the images with his victims.
Sanchez was also one of the two SAPD officers involved in the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man following a traffic stop back in October of 2024.