Oscar Torres: From Hero and Advocate to Criminal

Omar Torres is a San Jose city council member who once prided himself on being for the people. Throughout his time campaigning and as a city council member he has advocated for gay marriage, getting rid of homelessness and helping build small and local businesses. But over the past few months, an investigation has been going on surrounding him and his crimes of sexual misconduct against multiple minors.

Torres was elected as city council member of District 3 of San Jose in 2022. He is a San Jose State University graduate and is the first openly gay latino city council member to represent San Jose. Although Torres has achieved these things, his past came out as well. 

In October of 2024, an investigation surrounding Torres and multiple minors was opened. This started because in August of that same year, Torres himself went to police to report that someone online was extorting him. The one extorting him was a man in Chicago, one whom he’d had multiple sexually explicit messages and conversations with. As police looked into this extortion case, they found in Torres' devices his interest in having romantic and sexual relations with minors. Then, in the month of October, this investigation and evidence became public. 

Torres denies any wrongdoing and labels these messages and his interest as his own fantasies. Further into this investigation, a family member from Torres’ past came out and accused Torres of sexual assault. He opened up to the police about the years of sexual assault and sexual misconduct that Torres inflicted on him when he was a minor going into when he was 18. Torres does not deny these allegations and considers this person's story to be valid and true. In a phone conversation with his family, Torres owns up to these allegations and apologizes for his actions. He excuses his wrongdoings by explaining that he himself was a victim of repeated sexual assault as a minor and started to sexually abuse others to cope.

Last year, on November 5th, Torres resigned from his post. The same day, Torres was arrested. He is charged with accounts of child molestation, and he will be charged as an adult as he is one now, and was one in the past when he started to do these things to minors. As of November 14th, Torres has been denied bail.

Torres is also an openly gay man and was the only openly gay person to serve on the San Jose city council. Although this could have led him to be a trailblazing role model to people of the LGBTQ+ community, they now look at him with shame instead. Nathan Svoboda and Ken Yeager are board directors of Silicon Valley Pride, an organization dedicated to creating safe spaces and advocating for LGBTQ+ people. These two express their disappointment with Torres by saying, “Incidents like this, regardless of the individuals involved, fuel harmful stereotypes and misrepresentations about the LGBTQ+ community.” Torres is someone who represents the LGBTQ+ and his actions now create further negative stereotypes.

Residents of San Jose, apart from the LGBTQ+ community, are also disappointed and dissatisfied with Torres. They have spoken out against his actions and supported his resignation. Torres has officially resigned, effective since November 27th. His spot as council member and on the board has still not yet been filled and he has not been replaced.

Torres’ actions have hurt many people. They have hurt himself and his reputation, his family, those he has assaulted and the community that he once called home.