Sacramento’s NBC affiliate is reporting that Republican Stockton, California Mayor Anthony Silva, a family values anti-gay GOP politician who has held official town hall meetings at an anti-gay megachurch and gave the key to the city of Stockton to God has been arrested on multiple charges including secretly recording a male teenager playing a game of strip poker in his bedroom at a summer camp and is under investigation because a gun which was “reportedly” stolen from his house was used in a murder of a 13 year old boy.
Silva, 41, was charged with eavesdropping or recording confidential communications, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, providing alcohol to a minor and cruelty to a child by endangering health, according to court records. The incidents for which Silva is being charged happened between Aug. 5 and Aug. 9, 2015, at the Stockton Silver Lake Camp, according to the Amador County District Attorney.
The arrest stems from a September 2015 FBI investigation where Silva’s cell phone was seized by Homeland Security investigators at San Francisco International Airport as he got off a flight from China. One of the clips on Silva’s phone contained audio of several people during a strip poker game in Silva’s bedroom at the camp, the Amador County district attorney said. One of the participants was 16 years old.
The district attorney said the audio revealed that participants in the poker game did not want to be recorded. Witnesses stated that Silva supplied alcohol to a number of underage counselors at the camp as well, according to the Amador County district attorney.
Silva has been under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct multiple times, even before he was sworn in as mayor in 2013. When he was a high school water polo coach in 2004, Silva was accused of secretly taping male teens in the bathroom of his apartment. Charges were never filed.
Earlier this week it was also learned that a gun used in a drive-by shooting that killed a 13-year-old boy in Stockton was registered Silva.
Silva claims the gun was stolen from his home, and that he reported it stolen as soon as he realized it was gone.
The gun it turns out was used in a January 2015, it was used in a shooting and in February 2015, it was used in a second shooting, which resulted in the death of 13-year-old Rayshawn Harris. It wasn’t until March of 2015 that Silva reported the gun stolen.
Questions remain as to why there’s such a large gap between the time Silva’s gun was allegedly stolen, and the day he reported it stolen to police.