Omar Torres was arraigned today on charges that he forcibly sodomized, engaged in oral sex and committed lewd sex acts with a 13-year-old boy when the former council member was 18 – nearly 25 years ago.

One hour before the arraignment in Santa Clara County Superior Court, San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph presided over a press conference in which he disclosed that the arrest of Torres Tuesday afternoon came just one day after a man told police that when he was a child, he had been sexually assaulted by Torres for several years.

Also at the press conference, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said that  “Torres’ last decision before his arrest yesterday was to resign from the council.”

The letter of resignation arrived at City Hall on Tuesday at 5:30pm, after Torres was in the county Main Jail, held without bail.

In his letter of resignation obtained by San Jose Inside, Torres didn’t mention a pending arrest or the month-long turmoil caused by his admission to police that he engaged in sexually explicit online conversations with a Chicago man about sex with young boys.

In his first public comment since Oct. 2, Torres wrote in the resignation letter to the council: “This choice comes with a heavy heart, but I believe it is in the best interest of my constituents and my community.”

Joseph said the new charges that prompted this week’s arrest of Torres were unrelated to the investigation of the circumstances of Torres’ online communications with the Chicago man, which began in 2022.

Joseph said that investigation is continuing.

The police chief said that on Monday, the man who contacted police said the alleged assault “started when both the survivor and Torres were minors and continued after Torres became an adult and while this survivor was still a minor.”

The felony complaint against Omar Torres filed at today’s arraignment limited the illegal activities to a one-month period, from Nov. 25 to Dec. 25  in 1999, when Torres was an adult and the alleged victim was 13.

If convicted of any of the three felonies, prosecutors asked that Torres would not be eligible for probation or a suspended sentence. The law states that a conviction of any of the felonies requires that Torres must register as a sex offender.

The arraignment charged that Torres committed:

• “Sodomy by force, violence, duress, menace and fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.”
• “Oral copulation by force, violence, duress, menace and fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury.”
• “Lewd or lascivious acts on a child by force, violence, duress, menace and fear,” when he “willfully and lewdly commit[ed] a lewd and lascivious act upon and with the body and certain parts and members” of a 13-year-old child “and another person with the intent of arousing, appealing to and gratifying the lust, passions and sexual desires of the defendant and of the child.”

The crimes were committed “as a result of sexual compulsion and for the purposes of sexual gratification,” prosecutors said in the complaint.

At today’s press conference, Joseph said,”We also know that additional survivors are always possible—and we have a responsibility to pursue those possibilities and reassure those who come forward that they will be supported.”

“When such allegations involve an elected official, our responsibility carries additional layers and an intense desire for information in real time from the public and the media,” Joseph said.

The police chief closed his comments with a plea for any other possible survivors of sexual assault to come forward: “To the San Jose community, please know that this department will always support survivors of sexual violence and abuse, and know it is never too late to come forward. Doing so takes courage, but know that you will be supported.”

Mahan said that “these allegations are every parent’s worst nightmare. 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 imaginable.”

Mahan said Torres’ District 3 City Council seat will become officially vacant on Nov. 27. He said at an upcoming council meeting, the council will decide whether to appoint a replacement council member to serve until the term ends in 2026, or to naming a temporary council member who would serve only until a special election is held, so the public could decide who would fill the seat until the end of the term.

Mahan reminded his audience, which included council members, that he preferred letting District 3 voters pick the replacement as soon as possible.

“At the earliest we will have a new council member early next year,” he said.

“I know this is a shock to all of us. We’re devastated and disgusted by these allegations and I know that San Jose deserves better—so do our children, and our families,” said the mayor. “I hope that this resignation and arrest can allow San Jose to move on from this unfortunate chapter and move full steam ahead on the issues our community cares about the most: ending unsheltered homelessness, making our neighborhoods safer and cleaner and creating opportunities for every family in San Jose.”