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Calls mount for San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres to resign
For the first time in two decades, the entire San Jose city council, a political body often divided on how to govern, is asking one of its members to step down.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has joined the resounding calls for Councilmember Omar Torres to resign amid an investigation into alleged child sex crimes.
Mahan, along with the entire City Council except for Torres, is calling for his resignation after recent information emerged in the ongoing police investigation into the allegations.
"Given the appalling nature of Omar Torres’ own words and the allegations against him, we believe that he has lost the trust of the community and is no longer able to effectively serve the residents of District 3," the city leaders said in a statement. "As his own words call into question his ability to lead and make decisions on the behalf of the community, we are calling on him to resign."
The San Jose Police Department started an investigation in October into the 42-year-old after allegations of child sexual abuse material.
San Jose police investigating councilman accused of soliciting child sexual abuse material
Embattled San Jose city council member Omar Torres said he’s the victim of "entirely false" accusations. This, after San Jose police detectives launched a criminal investigation into the first-term Dist. 3 rep.
Published reports said Torres sought online sexually explicit images of a minor, which the councilmember has vehemently denied. Detectives issued a search warrant for his electronic devices and passcodes, which he complied with.
Torres has not been charged with a crime.
His attorney previously said Torres had been in private communication with a consenting adult and that the relationship took a dark turn.
The Law Office of Nelson McElmurry said in an earlier statement, "The content referenced in the affidavit pertains solely to private communications between adults of age that involved talk of outrageous fantasy and role play." The statement clarifies the communication was not based on real-world action and the intent was entirely fictitious.
The attorney explained the online relationship began with someone who was 19 years old at the time and that the communications began in February 2022. They described this person as a "friend-turned stalker" and that the councilmember was steered into conversations the person knew would be damaging to Torres' reputation.
"Under the guise of eroticism, he would insist on discussing topics related to my client's interest in the young man's age group and continued pushing the boundaries until my client felt compelled to reciprocate the talk as part of the role-play scenario," Torres' attorney said.
Once the conversation crossed into this territory, that's when Torres' attorney said the extortion began. They said Torres felt manipulated after the individual used false statements, made during role play, against him and would ask for large sums of money.
Torres' attorney said his client reported his situation to law enforcement. They reiterated that he has been cooperative in the investigation and that he wants to clear his name.
The San Jose Police Officers Association renewed its demand on Wednesday for Torres to resign immediately and questioned why it took city elected officials so long to call for Torres' ouster.
"Although we commend this action, we are left wondering: what took them so long?," the police union said. "After reading Torres’s self-admitted text messages seeking sex with underage minors and participating in an extortion scheme to keep his "fantasies" and "role-playing" about minors quiet, when are other leaders and organizations going to demand Torres resign?"
KTVU's Aja Seldon and Andre Torrez contributed to this report.