The timing of Silva’s arrest, according to Silva’s attorney, Mark Reichel, was highly suspicious.
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Silva has denied the accusations. The mayor was never arrested, but the limousine’s driver filed a civil lawsuit against him and the other passengers in May. The camp is owned by the United States Forest Service, which has leased the camp to the city for almost a century for $1 per year. The second count concerns two incidences past year when the Stockton mayor sold, furnished and gave away alcohol to six people under the age of twenty-one. The fourth is an accusation of child cruelty when the mayor caused and permitted an incident unsafe to the children which may have led to body injuries and death.
But there was no writing off what happened Thursday.
A lawyer says the mayor of Stockton, California, has been charged with providing alcohol to minors last summer at a youth camp he runs. Sawyer believes that the arrest is a political maneuver since Silva is set to face Democratic City Councilman Michael Tubbs in a heated election in November. Silva has been released on $20,000 bail.
The allegations were a bit of a shocker.
He touted his affinity for children, noting he had served as the president for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stockton for almost a decade, served on the Stockton Unified District Board of Education from 2004 to 2008, and was appointed board president in 2006 and 2007. He also coached high school water polo for several years.
Silver lake Family Camp owns the property. The clips were apparently taken during Silva’s 2015 youth camp at Silver Lake.
“Everyone there was 18 years old”.
Police said he filmed the game against their will.
The charges came a week after the Stockton Record reported that a gun stolen from Silva’s home during a burglary was linked to the killing of a 13-year-old boy in Stockton last year.
But the investigation began long before now.
Riebe said the Amador County District Attorney’s office did not participate in the investigation of the case, but was handed the evidence by the FBI, which has been conducting the investigation with the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s office.
The incidents reportedly occurred in August 2015 at the camp.
Prosecutors said in a media statement it was evident that the participants, who were naked, were recorded against their will. Amador County District Attorney Todd Riebe said those present besides the mayor included two to three females and three males, all ranging in age from 18 to 20. One video clip found on his phone appears to include a game of strip poker with Silva and camp counselors, according to the DA. The audio recording allegedly also reveal that the participants did not want to be recorded and that Silva supplied alcohol to a number of underage counselors at the camp.
She said the 16-year-old boy was at the party. The audio was recorded on the mayor’s cellphone, which was confiscated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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“The charges come as a surprise, and the information they’ve had is nearly a year old”, said Silva’s attorney Mark Reichel.
