San Jose Metropolis Councilmember Omar Torres has been charged with a number of felonies for allegedly sexually abusing a member of the family starting within the late Nineteen Nineties when the alleged sufferer was a baby, authorities introduced Wednesday afternoon.
Torres was arrested Tuesday night, hours after providing to resign, San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph stated at a information convention Wednesday. A decide issued an arrest warrant for the council member on expenses of lewd acts with a baby, oral copulation by pressure and sodomy of a kid by pressure, based on Joseph.
San Jose Metropolis Councilmember Omar Torres was charged with a number of felony sexual acts in opposition to a member of the family starting within the late Nineteen Nineties when the sufferer was a baby. He was arrested on Tuesday and agreed to resign on the finish of the month.
(Santa Clara County District Legal professional’s Workplace)
The San Clara County district lawyer’s workplace stated the allegations date again to 1999 and concerned a relative of Torres. If convicted, he may face many years in jail, based on Jay Boyarsky, Santa Clara County chief assistant district lawyer.
“Often, people look askance at victims who come forward with allegations years after a crime,” Boyarsky stated in an announcement. “As a sex crime prosecutor, I spoke with many of these survivors. Let me tell you: They are heroic.”
Torres was in court docket Wednesday for an arraignment however didn’t enter a plea, in accordance the D.A.’s workplace. He’s due in court docket Nov. 14 for a bail listening to.
He’s at present being held in San Jose’s Foremost Jail Complicated, based on inmate data. No bail was allowed.
A name to an lawyer listed as Torres’ consultant was not instantly returned.
Torres submitted a resignation letter to the San Jose metropolis clerk’s workplace hours earlier than his arrest Tuesday. His resignation was not efficient instantly, nonetheless; as an alternative, he stated he would step down Nov. 27.
“This choice comes with a heavy heart, but I believe it is in the best interest of my constituents and my community,” he wrote.
Torres made no point out of his authorized troubles in his letter.
Joseph stated Torres’ accuser contacted San Jose police on Nov. 4 and detailed new allegations in opposition to Torres.
The 43-year-old council member was already underneath investigation by San Jose police for the alleged sexual abusie of a minor, the San José Highlight reported final month.
That investigation is ongoing, Joseph stated.
“We will not be releasing any new information on the status or nature of that case other than it is not yet complete,” he stated.
A police affidavit from that investigation appeared to indicate that Torres was being blackmailed by a 21-year-old Chicago man he had shared nude pictures and specific textual content conversations with, the Highlight reported. The affidavit alleged that the person threatened to make the pictures and textual content messages public if Torres didn’t pay him varied quantities of cash.
The brand new allegations, unrelated to the primary investigation, led to an arrest inside a day’s span.
“The subsequent investigation led to the discovery of evidence corroborating the survivor’s allegations,” Joseph stated.
The police chief added that the alleged assaults started when each had been minors, then continued as soon as Torres turned an grownup and the sufferer was nonetheless a minor.
“These allegations are every parent’s worst nightmare,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan stated on the information convention. “But you don’t have to be a parent to be sickened by the charges against Omar Torres, which are some of the most serious charges imaginable.”
It’s unclear who will fill Torres’ seat after he’s gone.
A name and electronic mail to the mayor’s chief of workers was not instantly returned.
