SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A former San Jose City Councilman and convicted child molester, Omar Torres, was sentenced on Friday for sexually abusing a boy over the course of several years.

The sentencing hearing began with the victim delivering graphic and lengthy testimony about Torres raping him during his childhood. Torres listened in the courtroom as the victim yelled, called him a “monster,” and implored the judge to hand down a maximum sentence.

A Santa Clara County judge sentenced Torres to an 18-year prison sentence. He was ordered to register as a sex offender for life. 

The disgraced politician pleaded no contest in April to sodomizing a child. Prosecutors said Torres “terrorized” and molested the victim numerous times, starting when the victim was 4 years old, between 1990 and 1999.

Torres, 43, also pleaded no contest to forcible oral copulation.

Tensions were high in the courtroom during the sentencing hearing. The victim is Torres’ relative. Some family members sitting on one side of the gallery supported Torres, while other family members on the opposite side supported the victim.

The judge admonished everyone in the gallery, telling family members to maintain order as the hearing proceeded.

Torres resigned from his city council seat on Nov. 5, 2024, the same day that he was arrested by San Jose police officers. He has remained in custody ever since. The city held a special election earlier this year to fill the child molester’s seat on the city council representing downtown San Jose.

The case against Torres never went to trial.

The victim went to the San Jose police station after news broke in October of 2024 that Torres was under investigation for a separate child sex abuse case. In text messages exchanged with another man, Torres bragged about having oral sex with a 17-year-old boy on a local college campus, according to a San Jose police report. He also asked the man about finding minors, the report states.

Torres asked, “U got any homies under 18. I want hella homies u will see i’m wild in bed,” court documents show. A detective said the private text messages revealed the councilman’s “abnormal interest” in seeking sexual activities with children.

Torres previously served as an elected trustee of the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District.

After reading news reports about the October 2024 case, the victim said he feared that Torres was continuing to commit new sex crimes against more minors.

The victim talked to police and recorded a phone call with Torres on Nov. 4, 2024 to confront him about what happened in the 1990s. During the phone call, Torres made a confession and said, “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m a sick person. I was also raped and molested … when I was seven or eight. And so I wanted to sodomize somebody else,” court records show.

Torres said the victim, who was five years younger than him, was an “easy target,” court records state. When the victim turned 14 in 2000, the abuse “only stopped when Torres became concerned he would be caught,” the District Attorney’s Office wrote.

In court on Friday, the victim told Torres that his apology was not genuine. The ex-councilman only confessed to his crimes because he was caught, the victim said.

Torres’ sister defended her brother’s character in front of the judge. She said her brother was a kind person who had suffered sexual abuse as a child. He turned his life around as a city council member to give back to his community, the sister said. Torres cried while his sister was speaking.

The ex-councilman faced up to 24 years in prison, however, the judge chose an 18-year sentence.

The victim previously wrote a letter to a judge stating, “It took me 24 years, since 1999, to feel safe and confident enough that I would be heard. I no longer (hear) Omar Torres’ voice telling me, ‘No one will ever believe you.'”

District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, “Today’s sentence holds Omar Torres accountable for perpetrating horrendous crimes against a child. No one is above the law, and it is never too late for justice. We admire the victim’s courage to come forward to report the abuse he suffered.”

This breaking news story will be updated.