San Jose City Councilman Omar Torres' attorney has confirmed that his client engaged in sexually explicit social media activity but downplayed its significance in a statement.

Torres' attorney, Nelson McElmurry, claimed that the messages – on electronic devices seized by police warrants in Chicago last month – were “private communications between legal adults that included conversations about outrageous fantasies and role-playing games.”

McElmurry added in his statement that communications between Torres and a Chicago man “did not reflect any real actions or intentions and were entirely fictitious.”

McElmurry is a well-known criminal defense attorney who unsuccessfully ran for Santa Clara County supervisor earlier this year.

An affidavit filed Oct. 1 in San Jose Superior Court contained “evidence establishing that Torres committed a crime,” specifically possible crimes involving “oral copulation of a minor” and “an abnormal interest in a child.” . both crimes.

Torres has maintained his innocence of any crime. “I have nothing to hide,” he said in a letter posted online 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 by this individual,” Torres said in the statement.

He said he was a victim and said the allegations were “attempts to discredit me.” Police said the criminal investigation is ongoing.

The fallout from revelations of possible sex crimes by a city council member and the sexually explicit content cited in the affidavit has rocked City Hall, prompting the San Jose police union to call on Torres to resign and forcing Torres, a popular first-term 3rd District council member, from participating at council meetings.

The contents of the communications that sparked a police investigation were determined through arrest warrants issued Sept. 20 by the FBI and Chicago police on the electronic devices of the man with whom Torres had communicated for several years. Chicago police confiscated three iPhones, an iPad, an iWatch and an HP laptop and turned them over to San Jose police, the affidavit said.

A subsequent investigation by San Jose police into the contents of the devices beginning Sept. 24 revealed that “Torres paid (the Chicago man) for masturbation videos and nude photos,” the affidavit states.

Torres said he was interviewed by San Jose police on Oct. 2 about the messages. A week earlier, he had told police that he had been the victim of an extortion attack.

The affidavit filed in San Jose supported a warrant signed by Magistrate Griffin Bonini to place a GPS tracking device on a 2019 Mazda CX-9 driven by Torres for 30 days, which will be monitored by police.

Torres' account of the online relationship with the Chicago man differs from the description in the affidavit.

According to McElmurry, “the online relationship with the person blackmailing him began in February 2022, when the person who would later become his stalker was 19 years old.” Over time, the conversation developed into a sexual conversation in which both parties exchanged sexual fantasies and feelings.”

The lawyer's statement continued: “Unfortunately, this relationship took a dark turn. This friend-turned-stalker began encouraging and steering the conversations toward topics he knew would harm my client. My client felt trapped in a cycle of manipulation in which the person took advantage of my client's false statements during the role play to extort ever larger amounts of money. My client's current desire is to clear his name and return to serving the citizens of his district. We respectfully ask the public and media to reserve judgment until all the facts are available.”

Here is the account in the affidavit:

Torres told police he met the man online two years ago in Chicago, after which the two men communicated “through various social media platforms as well as text messages” in “an ongoing online sexual relationship.” During that time, Torres sent the man nude photos and videos of himself, some of which showed his face.

Torres told police he was the victim of extortion – he sent the man about $22,000 to prevent the nude pictures from being republished or from being contacted by Torres' associates or his partner. Then, in August, the man said he would send texts and pictures despite Torres' renewed requests. Text messages sought cash, car insurance or, on another occasion, a used car worth $2,000.

The Chicago man told police he began the online relationship with Torres “approximately three to four years ago.” He also said that Torres sent him “a photo of a younger child who Torrest said was autistic,” followed by a comment from the council member about the minor's genitals. He said Torres asked him “about searching for minors.”

At one point, police said electronic evidence suggested Torres FaceTimed the man in Chicago in 2022 and asked him to “masturbate while driving to work.”

According to police, Torres initially said his name was “Oscar” and that he had a son with autism. In another text, Torres describes the genitals of an 11-year-old autistic boy who he says is his son. In fact, Torres has no children.

Also in the 2022 text, Torres tells the man that he will pay for a video of the man having sex with a Mexican or Latino man and then describes a sexual encounter in explicit language. The two men recount alleged sexual encounters and describe genitals in graphic detail.

The affidavit contains nearly four pages of transcripts of 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 City Manager Jennifer Maguire's alleged attempt to divert police resources from the Torres investigation and demanded the media disclose the source of what the city believed was a leaked affidavit on file the clerk of the Higher Regional Court.

“The San Jose City Council’s recent unprofessional and dangerous antics surrounding the investigation of Councilman Omar Torres have been nothing short of disturbing and offensive,” the union said in a letter to Maguire. “Recent revelations that a City Hall employee assigned to the City Manager’s Office asked several reporters to reveal their confidential sources regarding a child sexual abuse investigation involving a Council member are despicably unethical. The scapegoating tactic of blaming the POA or one of its members as a media leak and attempting to intimidate independent reporting by journalists and other whistleblowers certainly sounds like a cover-up. It is also an affront to anyone who reveres our nation’s First Amendment.”

The union warned that “a municipal-led fishing expedition had withdrawn investigators from an incredibly complex and sensitive case to question them about media leaks.”

Other council members declined to comment on the case.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan also declined to comment, but added that City Hall was focused on serving the city's voters as he responded to questions about whether the investigation could become a distraction.

“I cannot comment further as this is an ongoing investigation and we need to let our investigators do their work,” Mahan said Oct. 4. “I know our police are working very hard to find out the truth. “As more information becomes available, our police, in consultation with the prosecutor, may pass it on.”

TORRES affidavit