While Stockton’s Silver Lake Family Camp is the home for underprivileged youths in the summer, on August 4 it also served as the location of Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva’s arrest. Silva was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigations and charged with one felony and three misdemeanors. The allegations concern Silva supplying alcohol to minors at the camp and audio-recording a strip poker game involving at least one minor boy. The charges are being pursued by the Amador County District office.
The arrest is the culmination of a months-long investigation into Silva’s alleged inappropriate conduct and, in part, stems from an audio clip found on Silva’s phone of the strip poker game.
“In one of the video clips, it appeared that moments after the video began, the phone was set down, darkening the camera lens and thus only containing audio,” prosecutors said in a statement. “The conversation between the participants indicated that they were naked.”
Amador County Dist. Atty. Todd Riebe stated that Silva had a strip poker game in his bedroom at the camp. Allegedly, a participant in the strip poker game was a 16-year-old boy while others were of age. It appears Silva recorded the game secretly and Riebe added that the “surreptitious recording clearly indicates that the participants did not want to be recorded.
In addition, witnesses told FBI agents that Silva provided alcohol to the poker game participants, all of whom were younger than the legal drinking age. Witnesses stated also that Silva had supplied alcohol and made it available to a number of underage counselors at the camp, officials said.
The events at issue seem to have occurred almost a year prior, to the date, on August 7 or 8, 2015. The cellphone and two laptops were seized from Silva by Homeland Security in September after returning from a trip in China.
Mayor Silva has been dogged by allegations of inappropriate conduct for over a decade, but, until now, no charges were ever brought. Prior allegations include alleged improper sexual behavior by Silva against a school board member in 2005, a 19-year-old woman accusing Silva of sexual battery in 2012, and similar accusations by other woman also in 2012.
All of this follows a bizarre situation where a gun owned by Silva – a semi-automatic pistol – was used in two Stockton crimes in 2015, including the killing of Rayshawn “Ray Ray Harris.” Yet, it was not until a month after that shoot that Silva informed authorities his gun was missing. At that time, Silva filed a report stating that the gun had been stolen in the three days prior, not over a month before. Silva denied any involvement in the crimes.
Even with the arrest and charges, Silva, who is seeking re-election will remain on the ballot against Michael Tubbs said Stockton City Clerk Bonnie Page.
“The top two from the June primary will advance to the runoff in November. That’s all (the city charter) says. So my opinion on that — I may have to defer to our legal counsel — my opinion would be that if one of those candidates becomes disqualified, the two names are going to be on the ballot no matter what, at this point. It’s too late to withdraw a name from the ballot.
At Liberty Law, Micha Star Liberty and Seth I. Rosenberg believe that if a child is harmed by an adult, the injured party should take steps to protect his or her legal rights. If you are the parent of a child harmed by an adult, call the Oakland-San Francisco attorneys out to protect our children at Liberty law at 510-645-1000 or 415-896-1000. We can help. Call us today to learn more or to schedule a free consultation on your case.
