In this Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016, booking mug released by the Amador County Sheriff’s Office is Anthony Silva, the mayor of Stockton, Calif.
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One of the video clips, taken in Silva’s bedroom at the camp, shows him playing strip poker with several of the camp’s counselors, including one who was 16 years old, according to the reports.
On Thursday, Silva was arrested on a number of charges, with one of the main ones being contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which occurred at his 2015 camp.
Mayor Anthony Silva was arrested at his summer camp for underprivileged youth Thursday and faces multiple charges over his suspected involvement in an underage strip poker game.
He was elected mayor of Stockton, a city of about 300,000 people east of San Francisco, in November 2012.
Silva also has been under a cloud of suspicion recently as a result of the alleged theft of guns from his home in early 2015.
“I was a victim of theft”, Silva said on Friday, adding he let police know when the gun initially went missing and formally reported it stolen once it was clear the weapon was not merely misplaced.
Silva’s attorney, Mark Reichel, did not return BuzzFeed News calls to comment, but released a statement to KCRA.
“He absolutely denies these charges, he’s angry and he’s going to fight it”, Silva’s lawyer Allen Sawyer, told Associated Press. The incident allegedly took place at his Stockton youth camp, a facility created to give at-risk inner city youth a safe place to spend part of their summer. He waved a brief goodbye to a deputy who escorted him outside.
The Republican mayor was reportedly arrested at the very youth camp where the abuse allegedly took place, in full view of all in attendance.
He’s served as the president and CEO for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stockton for at least six years. After investigation, the devices were found to have 23 photographs and four video clips of a youth camp Silva hosted for children from low-income families (via Fox News). The contents included almost two dozen photographs of people who appeared to be under 21 in possession of alcohol or near alcohol, said Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe.
As per Amador Ledger Dispatch, court documents filed yesterday at the Amador Superior Court say that the first count against Silva is the recording of confidential communication without the consent of the parties involved.
Todd Riebe, the Amador County District Attorney, has evidence that will be used against the mayor of Stockton, Silva, in his upcoming trial.
The cell phone that recorded the video appeared to have been placed down and recorded only audio, but officials said the conversation heard indicated the participants were naked and did not want to be recorded, according to the statement.
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The Stockton, California, police officers union is calling for the resignation of the city’s mayor after he was charged with providing alcohol to young adults last summer and making a secret recording of what prosecutors said was a game of strip poker with teens at his summer camp. “These counselors are responsible for 75 kids”.
