San Jose City Councilmember Omar Torres has been charged with multiple felonies for allegedly sexually abusing a family member beginning in the late 1990s when the alleged victim was a child, authorities announced Wednesday afternoon.
Torres was arrested Tuesday evening, hours after offering to resign, San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph said at a news conference Wednesday. A judge issued an arrest warrant for the council member on charges of lewd acts with a child, oral copulation by force and sodomy of a child by force, according to Joseph.
The San Clara County district attorney’s office said the allegations date back to 1999 and involved a relative of Torres. If convicted, he could face decades in prison, according to Jay Boyarsky, Santa Clara County chief assistant district attorney.
“Often, people look askance at victims who come forward with allegations years after a crime,” Boyarsky said in a statement. “As a sex crime 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 the D.A.’s office. He is due in court Nov. 14 for a bail hearing.
He is currently being held in San Jose’s Main Jail Complex, according to inmate records. No bail was allowed.
A call to an attorney listed as Torres’ representative was not immediately returned.
Torres submitted a resignation letter to the San Jose city clerk’s office hours before his arrest Tuesday. His resignation was not effective immediately, however; instead, he said 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 mention of his legal troubles in his letter.
Joseph said Torres’ accuser contacted San Jose police on Nov. 4 and detailed new allegations against Torres.
The 43-year-old council member was already under investigation by San Jose police for the alleged sexual abusie of a minor, the San José Spotlight reported last month.
That investigation is ongoing, Joseph said.
“We will not be releasing any new information on the status or nature of that case other than 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 he had shared nude photos and explicit text conversations with, the 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 allegations, unrelated to the first investigation, led to an arrest within a day’s span.
“The subsequent investigation led to the discovery of evidence corroborating the survivor’s allegations,” Joseph said.
The police chief added that the alleged assaults began when both were minors, then continued once Torres became an adult 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 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 call and email to the mayor’s chief of staff was not immediately returned.