San Jose mayor and council call on Councilman Omar Torres to resign amid allegations of sexual misconduct

The investigation apparently began when Torres contacted San Jose police on August 29 to report that he was being blackmailed in Chicago by a 21-year-old man named Terry Beeks, with whom, investigators later said, Torres had a “sexual relationship.” “online relationship”. ”

Torres told police that he sent Beeks “nude photos and videos of himself, some of which showed his face,” during their relationship over the past two years, investigators said, at which point Beeks demanded money and began publishing Nude photos threatened videos if he didn't pay.

“Torres admitted that this extortion had been going on for a long time,” the affidavit says, saying he paid Beeks a total of about $22,000.

Torres showed police investigators his messages with Beeks as well as screenshots of receipts showing payments he had made to him. He also told investigators that Beeks had a history of harassing his partner and council staff when his demands were ignored.

Investigators then interviewed Beeks and confiscated his electronic devices. Messages on these devices revealed that “Torres paid Beeks for masturbation videos and nude photos” and “paid for Facetime with Beeks while he masturbated.”

During their ongoing text correspondence in February 2022, Torres sent Beeks a photo of a boy he referred to as his “autistic son,” saying he was 11 years old and that he was “like daddy lol he already has a big penis.” haha,” according to the text exchanges detailed in the affidavit. He also talked about the boy's pubic hair.

However, Torres has no children.

In a text exchange with Beeks the following month, Torres described performing oral sex on a 17-year-old while working at a college.

In another text exchange with Beeks in 2022 about a sexual encounter, Torres asked, “You got any homies under 18.”

In previous statements to the media, McElmurry, Torres' attorney, has not disputed the authenticity of the text messages but downplayed their significance, calling them an “outrageous fantasy and role play.”

“These communications do not reflect any real actions or intentions and were entirely fictitious,” McElmurry said. He described Beeks as a “friend-turned-stalker of Torres” who steered conversations toward topics that would harm Torres as part of his extortion plan.

McElmurry said Torres felt “caught in a cycle of manipulation” and decided to “take the difficult but honorable path of reporting the situation to law enforcement despite the significant personal risks involved.”

But he made it clear that Torres “maintains his innocence.” “He has no interest in minors. He has never had a relationship like this with minors,” McElmurry said.

With his election to the District 3 seat in 2022, Torres became the first openly gay Latino to hold a council seat in the county, according to his profile on the council website. Torres, 42, said he has dedicated much of his life to advocating for youth and families in San Jose and the Guadalupe-Washington community where he grew up.

The San Jose Police Officers Association, which supported Torres' opponent in his council race, has publicly called on him to resign and previously expressed disappointment that Torres' colleagues on the council did not call for the same.

“Councilman Omar Torres' criminal investigation into alleged sexual misconduct with a minor is set to run its course, but through his criminal defense attorney he has admitted that he sent multiple text messages about the genitals of an 11-year-old autistic boy and asked for help obtaining them . “Minors for sex,” Sgt. Steve Slack, the police union president, said in a statement to KQED.

“This is disgusting and his own words meet the SJPOA’s resignation threshold,” Slack said.

On Wednesday, after the council released its joint statement, the police union questioned why it took so long for city leaders to call on Torres to resign.