Police searching for suspected serial child molester

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080313-1301-bn13molest.html

By Debbi Farr Baker
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

1:01 p.m. March 13, 2008



San Diego Police Dept.
Jose Luis Torres
SAN DIEGO - Police Thursday said they are looking for a polygamist and suspected
serial child molester who claimed to be an emissary of God and is accused of
sexually abusing three daughters and a step-daughter.
Jose Luis Torres, 52, molested the girls daily for most of their young lives,
said San Diego police Detective Dianna Webb.

Torres claimed that he was the archangel Gabriel sent by God, which entitled him
to have sex with the girls in order to pass on his seed and fulfill his sexual
needs, Webb said.

He also mentally and physically abused his son and a stepson, Webb said.

"They were worthless to him," Webb said.



Webb said the molestation started in the late 1980s in Mexico where Torres - who
was married to his first wife but did not yet have children - met a married
American woman who had a son and a daughter.
The woman left her husband and moved in with Torres and his wife. He began to
molest her daughter shortly thereafter, Webb said.

In 1989, Torres moved with both women to San Diego, where he married the
American and had two daughters with her, Webb said. His first wife gave birth to
a son and a daughter. Both families lived in the same house.

The abuse ended in 2003 after both wives eventually left him, Webb said.

San Diego police began their investigation last year after one of the daughters,
who is now 15, told detectives about it while talking with them on an unrelated
matter, Webb said. The rest of the family then decided to talk.

All of the children attended schools, and both wives worked outside the home,
but none ever said anything about what was going on in the home, Webb said.

"Whatever mental power he had over them, he had everyone convinced not to
disclose," Webb said.

Torres rebuilt cars, but he mainly lived off the salaries of his wives, both who
worked in white-collar jobs, Webb said. "He stayed home and took care of the
kids," Webb said.

He also used his children's Social Security numbers to obtain credit cards from
which he would draw cash, Webb said.

Additionally, he wrote a book about angels that was published in Spanish and
detailed his religious beliefs, Webb said.

Webb said she is at a loss as to how to describe the hold that Torres had over
his family. She portrayed him as as controlling and domineering, and compared
him to Charles Manson.

She said the wives were both educated women who knew better, but they accepted
the lifestyle and believed they were living with an angel. The first wife had
worked for the Mexican government. The second wife had a college education.

The children - who now range in age from 15 to 27 - and the women say they are
eager to have Torres arrested and brought to justice, Webb said.

Webb said that what Torres did to the children was beyond horrendous and one of
the worst cases of child molestation she has ever investigated.

Torres has several aliases and has used the names Jose Luis Quiroz, Jose Luis
Aureliano and Aureliano Torres. He is described as Latino, 5 feet 8 inches tall
with a heavy build, brown hair and brown eyes.

He is a Mexican citizen, but was in the country legally with a visa. His
whereabouts are unknown. He has not been found at any of his family's previous
homes in Mexico or the U.S., Webb said.

Police suspect Torres may have started another family, which would fit the
profile of a pedophile, Webb said.

Anyone with information about Torres is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (888)
580-8477, where they can remain anonymous. There is a $1,000 reward for
information.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Debbi Baker: (619) 293-1710; debbi.baker@...

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]