New court records released Thursday show San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres is being investigated for “oral copulation of a minor” — a stunning development in a criminal investigation that’s rocked Silicon Valley.
In the filings, police say they interviewed an individual named Terry Beeks, who is described as a 21-year-old Chicago resident allegedly extorting Torres. Beeks told police he met Torres on social media about three or four years ago — Torres alleges it was two years ago — and text messages included in the filings indicate that Torres sent Beeks a photo of an 11-year-old child that Torres said was autistic. Torres talks about the autistic minor’s penis size and pubic hair, the records show. The filings also describe texts planning a sexual encounter in which Torres asks Beeks if he knows any minors.
The filings do not include all the information that police have in their case — only details sufficient to support probable cause to serve their search warrant on Torres.
Click here to see the police affidavit released on Thursday.
Torres has maintained his innocence — calling his texts fantasizing about minors “role play.”
“These communications do not reflect any real-world actions or intentions and were entirely fictitious,” his attorney, Nelson McElmurry, said in a statement Thursday.
On Feb. 24, 2022, Torres sent the Chicago man a photo of “a juvenile male smiling,” the report says. Torres identifies him as his “autistic son.” Torres does not have a son.
“He is like daddy lol he already has a big penis haha,” Torres writes.
Beeks also said Torres asked him about finding minors for sex.
“U got any homies under 18,” Torres texts a man police have identified as Beeks.
Torres admitted to investigators that Beeks had been extorting him “for a long time” and that in total he had sent Beeks approximately $22,000.
In one text thread with Beeks, Torres said he “sucked a student in the control room” of a college.
“Black 17 year old and boom,” Torres wrote. “9.5 inches at 17.”
McElmurry said Beeks was 19 years old when Torres’ online relationship with him began. The attorney said Beeks would later become Torres’ stalker, and over time, the conversation turned sexual where both parties exchanged sexual fantasies and feelings.
“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, especially if given without context,” McElmurry said. “Under the guise of eroticism, he would insist on discussing topics related to my client’s interest in the young man’s age group and continued pushing the boundaries until my client felt compelled to reciprocate the talk as part of the role-play scenario. Once the conversations crossed that line, the extortion began.”
McElmurry said Torres “felt trapped” in a cycle of manipulation where Beeks leveraged Torres’ texts to extort increasingly large sums of money.
Mayor Matt Mahan said he’s “shocked and sickened” by what he read in the affidavit.
“These allegations are extremely serious and, if proven true, the councilmember needs to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Mahan told San José Spotlight. “This is still an active investigation and I trust our criminal justice system to determine the full truth.”
The San Jose Police Officers’ Association issued a statement on Thursday demanding Torres’ resignation.
“Omar Torres must resign immediately and face the consequences for his alleged wretched behavior that includes exploiting children for sex, paying hush money to cover it up, and detailing his sexual exploits with an autistic child,” Steve Slack, president of the police union, said. “He must resign, and this investigation must also focus on Torres’ colleagues and on city management and seek the answers to these questions; Who knew, and when did they know it.”
The documents obtained by San José Spotlight show Torres contacted police in August about being extorted by Beeks. In fear of repercussions, police say Torres sent the money to Beeks. Torres went to Chicago, where Beeks lived, for the Democratic National Convention that same month. There, police allege Torres met with Beeks in person to “discuss their ongoing relationship and find closure.”
Shortly after, police say Beeks began asking Torres for money and threatening to release nude photos and videos if he was not paid. Police say Beeks has a history of harassing Torres’ partner and his staff members when he ignores his demands.
That’s when police contacted Beeks — and Beeks allegedly began divulging lewd messages with Torres involving minors.
San Jose police served Torres with a search warrant and detained him for questioning last week. That search warrant has now been made public with the release of the filings. Sources close to the investigation previously told San José Spotlight that Torres is being investigated for soliciting explicit pictures from a minor and sex with a minor.
On the same night he was searched, Torres issued a statement on official city letterhead claiming the investigation is “retaliation” after he filed a police report against his stalker. He added that he was “wrongfully detained and questioned” by police detectives.
Torres said he cooperated with authorities and turned over passwords to his computer because he has nothing to hide.
“At this time, my client’s desire is to clear his name and get back to serving the citizens of his district,” McElmurry said. “We respectfully request that the public and the media withhold judgment until all the facts are presented.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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