A Republican mayor from California was arrested Thursday after the FBI uncovered cellphone audio recordings of a strip poker game with minors at a youth summer camp last year, according to authorities.
Anthony Silva, 41, mayor of Stockton since 2013, was arrested by the FBI at a summer camp he hosts for underprivileged kids in the Sierra Nevada, CBS Sacramento reported.
Authorities focused primarily on four videos and 23 photos on Silva’s phone that had been taken at his 2015 camp in Stockton. In one of the video clips, the phone reportedly had been set down so that the camera lens was covered, leaving only an audio conversation between participants of the strip poker game, who were evidently naked in Silva’s bedroom, according to a press release from the Amador County District Attorney’s Office.
The camera had been blocked after participants in the room, including a 16-year-old male, said they did not want to be video recorded, according to CBS News.
"Witnesses also informed FBI agents that Silva provided alcohol to the participants, all of whom were underage, including a minor," the DA press release said. "Witnesses stated that Silva had supplied alcohol and made it available to a number of underage counselors at camp."
A witness also claimed that Silva installed cameras in his bedroom and at a nearby kid’s club, the DA said.
Authorities charged Silva with felony recording of confidential communications and misdemeanor counts of furnishing alcohol to a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and child endangerment, CBS News reported.
Silva has denied the allegations.
The city of Stockton dispatched their parks and recreation department to take over the camp following Silva’s arrest Thursday.