San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres’ attorney has affirmed that his client has engaged in sexually explicit social media activities, but in a statement downplayed their significance.
Torres’ lawyer, Nelson McElmurry, claimed the messages – in electronic devices seized in police warrants last month in Chicago – were ”private communications between adults of age that involved talk of outrageous fantasy and role play.”
McElmurry added in his statement that the communications between Torres and a Chicago man ”do not reflect any real-world actions or intentions and were entirely fictitious.”
McElmurry is a well-known criminal defense lawyer who was an unsuccessful candidate for Santa Clara County supervisor earlier this year.
An affidavit filed with the Superior Court in San Jose on Oct. 1 included “evidence to show a felony has been committed” by Torres, specifically possible crimes involving “oral copulation of a minor” and “having an abnormal interest in a child,” both felonies.
Torres has maintained his innocence of any crime. “I have nothing to hide,” he said in a letter posted online on Oct. 4.
“This detention was based on misinformation provided to law enforcement in response to a police report I filed against an individual for extortion and stalking and is a clear act of retaliation from this person,” Torres said in the statement.
He said he is a victim, and said the allegations were “attempts to discredit me.” Police said a criminal investigation is continuing.
The fallout from the revelations of possible sex crimes by a City Council member and the sexually explicit content cited in the affidavit has shaken City Hall, prompted the San Jose police officers’ union to call for Torres to resign and deterred Torres, a popular first-term 3rd District council member, from attending council meetings.
The content of the communications that prompted police investigations was obtained in warrants served Sept. 20 by the FBI and Chicago police on the electronic devices of the man with whom Torres had been communicating for several years. Chicago police seized three iPhones, an iPad, iWatch and an HP laptop and turned them over to San Jose police, according to the affidavit.
Subsequent examination of the content in the devices beginning on Sept. 24 by San Jose police said “Torres was paying [the man in Chicago] for masturbation videos and nude photos,” according to the affidavit.
Torres said he was interviewed by San Jose Police on Oct. 2 about the messages. A week earlier he had told police he was the victim of an extortion plot.
The affidavit filed in San Jose supported a warrant signed by Magistrate Griffin Bonini to place a GPS tracking device for 30 days on a 2019 Mazda CX-9 owned by Torres that will be monitored by police.
The account by Torres of the online relationship with the Chicago man differs from the description in the affidavit.
According to McElmurry, “The online relationship with the individual extorting him began in February of 2022 when the individual, who would later become his stalker, was 19 years old. Over time, the conversation turned sexual where both parties exchanged sexual fantasies and feelings.”
The attorney’s statement continued: “Unfortunately this relationship took a dark turn. This friend-turned-stalker started encouraging and steering the conversations into topics he knew would be damaging to my client. My client felt trapped in a cycle of manipulation where the individual leveraged the false statements my client made during role play to extort increasingly large sums of money. At this time, my client’s desire is to clear his name and get back to serving the citizens of his district. We respectfully request that the public and the media withhold judgment until all the facts are presented.”
Here is the account in the affidavit:
Torres told police he met the man in Chicago online two years ago, after which the two men communicated “through various social media platforms as well as text messages” in “an ongoing sexual online relationship.” During that time, Torres sent the man nude photos and videos of himself, some of which included his face.
Torres told police he was the victim of extortion – that he had sent the man approximately $22,000 to prevent any reposting of the nude images, or contacting Torres’ staff or his partner. Then in August, the man said he would sent texts and images, despite Torres’ renewed pleas. In text messages, the sought cash, car insurance, or on another occasion a $2,000 used car.
The Chicago man told police he had begun the online relationship with Torres “approximately 3-4 years” ago. He also said that Torres sent him “a photo of a younger kid that Torrest said was autistic,” followed up by comment from the council member about the minor’s genitals. He said Torres asked him “about finding minors.”
At one point, police said electronic evidence indicated Torres in 2022 asked to Facetime with the man in Chicago, and asked him “to masturbate while he drives to work.”
Torres, police said, initially said his name was “Oscar,” who had a son with autism. In another text, Torres describes the genitals of an 11-year-old autistic boy he says is his son. Torres in fact has no children.
Also in the 2022 text, Torres tells the man he will pay for a video of the man having sex with a Mexican or Latino male, then offers an account of a sexual encounter, using explicit language. The two men recount purported sexual encounters and describe genitals in graphic detail.
The affidavit includes nearly four pages of transcripts of the sexually explicit text conversations between Torres and the man in Chicago.
The San Jose Police Officers’ Association has called on Torres to resign.
The police union also was sharply critical of what it said was an attempt by City Manager Jennifer Maguire to divert police resources from the investigation of Torres and request that media outlets disclose the source of what the city believed was a leaked affidavit that was on file with the Superior Court clerk.
“The recent unprofessional and dangerous antics by San Jose city management surrounding the investigation of Councilmember Omar Torres have been nothing less than disturbing and offensive,” the union said in a letter to Maguire. “Recent published disclosures that a city hall employee assigned to the city manager’s office has asked multiple reporters to reveal their confidential sources regarding a child sex abuse investigation involving a council member are disgustingly unethical. The scapegoat tactic to try and lay any blame on the POA, or any of its members, as a media leak and to try and intimidate the independent reporting of journalists and other whistleblowers sure sounds like a cover-up. It is also an affront to anyone who reveres our nation’s First Amendment.”
The union warned that a “fishing expedition directed by city management would have pulled detectives off of an incredibly complex and sensitive case to question them about media leaks.”
Other council members have refrained from commenting on the case.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan also has declined to comment, but added that City Hall was focused on serving the city’s constituents in response to questions about whether the investigation could become a distraction.
“I can’t comment any further because it’s an ongoing investigation and we have to let our detectives do their jobs,” Mahan said Oct. 4. “I know that our police department is working very hard to get to the truth. When there’s more information, our police department, in consultation with the city attorney, will be able to share that.”
I think Omar’s attorney is doing him a disservice here. Is his legal defense REALLY that he just “role plays and fantasizes” about being a pedophile? He just pretends to send messages seeking minor “homies”? If I was Omar, I would come clean 100% – take accountability for the disturbing messages, and tell the truth about ANYTHING else that may be uncovered – and say “I will get help and I will do better for everyone that I let down.” This man was on the Franklin McKinley school board and constantly taking photos with children – and apparently gets sexual enjoyment on, at a minimum, pretending to be with young boys. So, any attempt to justify or rationalize the details in the court documents is just going to make it worse. Omar, you were caught! Your decisions and relationships led you here – no one else. Have courage and take accountability. Come clean – these excuses are making it worse!
In the same letter on City of San Jose letterhead, indeed same paragraph, in which Torres said he had nothing to hide, he also said he was “wrongfully detained” by the police. Yet, Torres’ attorney admits the scandalous statements asserted in the police affidavit were in fact made by Torres (but claims they involved role playing). Thus, whether or not Torres is ultimately charged with or convicted of a crime, the notion he was wrongfully detained was a bald face lie. The POA is right to call for Torres’ resignation on that basis alone. Torres defamed the city’s law enforcement personnel — on city letterhead.
Resign.
The City Manager called the POA’s letter accusing the City of a coverup and interference with the investigation of Torres to be unfortunate and false and promised a formal written response — nearly a week ago, before the Columbus Day long weekend. Where is that written response?
The POA is in no position on asking anyone to resign. Was it not their office that was selling fentanyl? What other officers were involved in this drug dealing scheme? We have heard the stories of police agencies putting drugs on the street to create an epidemic while politicians favored a “War on Drugs”. I am in support of the great work many SJPD officers do but like my mom always used to say in Spanish to those who abuse their authority, “No lo chinges”. What fall out was there from that one POA staff member selling drugs? I find it hard to believe fentanyl was being sold under the police runny noses. That was a cover up too.
There are so many sides to the story that we don’t even know yet. I just hate to see someone’s reputation ruined unless a jury decides he is guilty of a crime.
Cathy – An admission made by your lawyer of fantasy role play about children passed around on text rings doesn’t have many sides, it has one side, a quick eviction from any position of power. His reputation is already toast.
As the investigation continues, the police and city management are facing scrutiny, particularly regarding how they handle the situation and address potential media leaks related to the case.