The mayor of Stockton, California, has been arrested on multiple charges relating to a city-run youth camp in east-central California.
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The FBI received a warrant to search Silva’s phone late a year ago, according to a statement from county authorities. “The clip contains audio of a conversation between participants involved in a strip poker game that occurred in Silva’s bedroom”.
He added that the conversation included a male who was 16 years old and that the conversation on the clip indicated the individuals did not want to be recorded.
Prosecutors and sheriff’s officials did not return calls from the AP seeking further details. The City of Stockton said in a statement that law enforcement are on site at the camp, presumably to keep the peace.
Mayor Silva was placed in handcuffs in December 2014 after a fight broke out in a limousine he was riding in.
The Amador District Attorney’s Office claims Silva provided six minors with alcohol at his camp in August 2015 and that it recovered photographs and video clips of the alleged illegal activities from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Three other charges related to the summer camp and the game of strip poker that Silva allegedly arranged for teens there to play with him in his cabin were eavesdropping or recording confidential communications, cruelty to a child by endangering health, and providing alcohol to a minor.
His lawyer, Mark Reichel, said in a statement that the timing was ideal to besmirch the Stockton mayor’s name who is running for reelection in November against a close competitor, City Councilman Michael Tubbs. After receiving the evidence, Riebe quickly moved to have the Amador County, California police charge the mayor. Silva was released on a $20,000 bond on Thursday and is facing up to three years in prison if convicted.
He said he is willing to raise money to increase a reward for information leading to the arrest of Harris’ killer. He was released on $20,000 bail later in the day. The mayor is accused of not reporting the gun as missing until a month after the boy was killed.
“A forensic examination of a lifetime of messages, emails, videos and pictures produced an audio recording of a counselor party that lasted about a minute in length”, he said. In 2012, a 19-year-old accused Silva of sexual battery, but no formal charges were filed.
“Everyone there was 18 years old”, Silva said, flanked by his attorneys.
Silva made a statement in a police report that his home had been burglarized and his.40-caliber Beretta, a 100-quart cooler, a generator, a laser printer, a camera and a game console were taken.
After all, he had served as the chief executive of the Boys and Girls Club of Stockton, president of the Stockton Unified Board of Education, and aquatic program director for the San Joaquin County Human Service Agency, where he “help [ed] kids in economically disadvantaged parts of Stockton get access to swimming lessons and pools”, according to his website. “Number one: Everyone there was 18 years old”.
Reuters reported that, according to a criminal complaint filed in court, Mayor Silva has also been charged with three misdemeanor counts.
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Before Silva was charged, the Stockton Police Officers Association endorsed his opponent Michael Tubbs, citing his commitment to cooperation with police in establishing good practices, the newspaper reported.
