Search warrants served at home of former Stockton mayor Anthony Silva, Kids Club

Former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva’s legal troubles continued Thursday as the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office executed search warrants at his home and the Stockton Kids Club.

Tim Daly, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office, confirmed the searches but said he could not discuss what investigators were seeking. Daly said an arrest warrant also had been issued for Silva, but he declined to say what the charges are.

Silva’s attorney Mark Reichel said Silva is out of the county on vacation. Reichel said investigators were searching for financial documents related to the Stockton Kids Club. He said he did not know what the charges are against his client.

The Kids Club is the successor to the Boys & Girls Club of Stockton. The Boys & Girls Club of America revoked the club’s 50-year-charter in December 2013 after months of controversy involving some of its leaders, including Silva, who had served as director and a board member of the club, according to the Stockton Record. Silva has remained involved in the Kids Club, a nonprofit organization whose goal, according to its Facebook page, is to “get kids off the street and into structured programs.”

Silva was arrested in August in Amador County where he was conducting his annual camp for disadvantaged children. The Amador County District Attorney’s Office charged him with recording confidential communications, a felony, and three misdemeanors: contributing to the delinquency of a minor, furnishing alcohol to a person younger than 21, and child endangerment. The charges stemmed from a strip-poker game that prosecutors said he held with teen counselors at the camp the previous year.

Past trouble

In the fall of 2015, federal agents searched the mayor’s belongings and confiscated his cellphone and laptop when he returned to San Francisco from a trip to China. A search of Silva’s phone produced 23 photographs and four video clips of the youth camp held Aug. 3-9, the Amador County DA’s Office said in a news release.

The clips contained audio of a conversation between participants involved in a strip poker game that occurred in Silva’s bedroom, the news release said, and the conversation between the participants indicated that they were naked and one of the participants was a 16-year-old boy.

Silva has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Reichel said Thursday’s search warrants were not related to the Amador County case.

Silva lost his bid for re-election in November. His last day as mayor was Dec. 31.

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Silva said, “Apparently Stockton can manage without me for a while so I decided to go explore the world. ‘I am leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again.’ ”

Reichel said Silva has been informed of the arrest warrant and plans to return as soon as possible.

This story was originally published March 2, 2017 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Search warrants served at home of former Stockton mayor Anthony Silva, Kids Club."