San Jose City Councilman Omar Torres has been charged with multiple felonies for allegedly sexually abusing a member of his family since the late 1990s, when the alleged victim was a child, authorities announced Wednesday. in the afternoon.
Torres was arrested Tuesday night, hours after offering his resignation, San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph said at a news conference Wednesday. A judge issued an arrest warrant for the councilman on charges of lewd acts with a child, forcible oral copulation and forcible sodomy of a child, according to Joseph.
San Jose City Councilman Omar Torres was accused of multiple sexual crimes against a member of his family starting in the late 1990s, when the victim was a child. He was arrested on Tuesday and agreed to resign at the end of the month.
(Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office)
The San Clara County district attorney's office said the allegations date back to 1999 and involve a relative of Torres. If convicted, he could face decades in prison, according to Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney Jay Boyarsky.
“People often look askance at victims who come forward years after a crime,” Boyarsky said in a statement. “As a sex crimes prosecutor, I spoke with many of these survivors. Let me tell you: they are heroic.”
Torres was in court Wednesday for an arraignment, but did not enter a plea, according to the district attorney's office. He is due in court on Nov. 14 for a bail hearing.
He is currently detained at the San José Main Prison Complex, according to inmate records. No bail was allowed.
A call to an attorney listed as representing Torres was not immediately returned.
Torres submitted a letter of resignation to the San Jose city clerk's office hours before his arrest Tuesday. However, his resignation did not take effect immediately; instead, he said he would resign on November 27.
“This election comes with great sadness, but I believe it is best for my constituents and my community,” he wrote.
Torres did not mention his legal problems in his letter.
Joseph said Torres' accuser contacted San Jose police on Nov. 4 and detailed new allegations against Torres.
The 43-year-old councilman was already under investigation by the San José police for the alleged sexual abuse of a minor, the Focus on San José reported last month.
That investigation is ongoing, Joseph said.
“We will not be releasing any new information about the status or nature of that case other than that it is not yet complete,” he said.
A police affidavit from that investigation appeared to show that Torres was being blackmailed by a 21-year-old Chicago man with whom he had shared nude photos and explicit text conversations, Spotlight reported. The affidavit alleged that the man threatened to make the photos and text messages public if Torres did not pay him various amounts of money.
The new accusations, unrelated to the first investigation, led to an arrest within a day.
“The subsequent investigation led to the discovery of evidence that corroborated the survivor's allegations,” Joseph said.
The police chief added that the alleged attacks began when both were minors, and continued once Torres reached the age of majority and the victim was still a minor.
“These allegations are every parent's worst nightmare,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said at the news conference. “But you don't have to be a parent to be disgusted by the charges against Omar Torres, which are some of the most serious charges imaginable.”
It is unclear who will fill Torres' position after his departure.
A call and email sent to the mayor's chief of staff were not immediately returned.
