San Jose's mayor and city council on Wednesday called on Councilmember Omar Torres to resign as he faces an ongoing sexual misconduct investigation.
Mayor Matt Mahan, Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei, and councilmembers Sergio Jimenez, David Cohen, Peter Ortiz, Dev Davis, Bien Doan, Domingo Candelas, Pam Foley and Arjun Batra issued the following joint statement:
"We all live in a nation in which we are innocent until proven guilty — that applies to every single person in our city, including those in elected office. We are in the midst of an active and ongoing investigation, and as our police department uncovers the truth, that truth will be shared with the community. 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. 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."
A sworn statement, an affidavit, by the lead investigator in the case was filed with the court this month and the public information shows a complex tale of alleged sex, possible child pornography and blackmail.
The affidavit shows Torres acknowledges paying an alleged extortionist about $22,000 to prevent nude pictures and videos from being revealed and texts about a young boy.
Torres in a previous statement to NBC Bay Area said he is innocent and that the lurid texts laid out in the search warrant affidavit were private conversations between individuals of age and totally fictitious.
No criminal charges have been filed in the case.
The San Jose Police Officers Association released the following statement on Wednesday after city leaders called for Torres to resign:
"Today, several San Jose city elected officials called on their colleague, Councilmember Omar Torres, to resign. Although we commend this action, we are left wondering: what took them so long? 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?"
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