San Diego Politics Blog

Thomas Frank White with 2 Mexican Boys.  White launched the Lombard brokerage firm with Republican congressional candidate, Eric Roach, in 1992.

There’s something you are not likely to see on Eric Roach’s TV ads:  allegations that the man he launched his business with (that made him a millionaire) has a long history of rampant pedophilia and child prostitution.

Here’s how the story goes based on emails this blog has received and research I conducted myself to vet out the rumors and allegations to see if there were any substantive facts to the rumors.

Eric Roach states on his website that he is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lombard Brokerage and was associated with the firm from 1992 to 1997.

Roach says on his website that "with just $13,000 in seed money" he built Lombard Brokerage into an innovative leader in investing.  The company was sold in 1997.

But the San Francisco Chronicle reports the story somewhat differently.

It says that in 1992 Lombard was founded by Thomas White with $13,000 in venture capital.  A Lombard insider says the selling price for Lombard was about $70 million, with about half of that going to White.  Presumably some significant portion of the other half went to Eric Roach.

A June 30, 1992 San Francisco Chronicle story explains that White and Roach were partners in launching the firm.

Notice the spelling of Roach’s name is Roche.  I presume it’s the same person, just spelled incorrectly by the reporter, Herb Greenberg.

So, what’s the problem with all of this?

Thomas Frank White, the man who was Roach’s partner in his rise to riches story of success has a long history of inappropriate sexual conduct with underage boys.

Here are excerpts from one of many stories (this report from the San Francisco Chronicle) on Thomas Frank White’s exploits with boys as young as 10 years old in Mexico, Thailand, the Czech Republic and in San Francisco:

Prosecutors in Mexico say their case is based on the sworn affidavits of eight poor boys, 10 to 16 years old, who said that White paid them for sex in his seaside villa near Puerto Vallarta and supplied some of them with drugs.

Through his attorneys in Mexico and California, White has denied the boys’ charges as well as accusations in a San Francisco civil suit filed last November, in which a 20-year-old Modesto man accuses White of molesting him in San Francisco when the young man was 17.

Terming the accusations "entirely baseless" and "not credible," Juarez attorney Jose Maria Ortega Padilla said White is a victim of people "with a prejudiced agenda" against a wealthy, gay San Franciscan. The lawyer said that the child accusers "in most cases were living on the streets and addicted to drugs" and "readily adopted the stories that were presented to them" by White’s enemies.

Chronicle reporters took the following excerpts from eight printed transcripts, and the videotape of one of those interviews by Garcia Reynoso. Although the boys’ full names are included in the affidavits, it is The Chronicle’s policy not to publish the names of minors involved in cases of alleged sex abuse.

"When he filmed me, if I moved my body well, he paid me better," testified a boy, who said he was 14 when he met White.

Another, who said he was 10 when he and some friends visited the Casa Blanca, remembered White showing heterosexual pornographic films "and when we were all done, he told us that if we wanted to make more money, that we could (perform anal intercourse on) him, telling me he would give me 100 pesos. But I only did it one time, and I did it with a condom and he gave me 100 pesos. But when he did it with the other guys, he gave them 300 pesos."

One hundred pesos is equivalent to $10.

According to the affidavits collected by Garcia Reynoso and filed through a state human rights commissioner with the prosecutor general of the state of Jalisco, Mexico, the youngest of the boys was 10 at the time of the alleged sex abuse and prostitution, the oldest 16, the legal age of consent in Mexico.

Many of the boys describe a similar initial encounter: White allegedly solicited them near the Hotel Rosita, which sits between Puerto Vallarta’s Malecon promenade and the popular Playa de los Muertos (Beach of the Dead). Some boys were driven to the Casa Blanca in "a white van," others said they were told to take taxis paid for by White.

One boy, who said he was 14 when he met White, gave a typical account of the villa:

"We asked if Tom was there and they said yes. We asked if we could come in and they said yes, so we took off our clothes, because that’s the rule for entering that place, and they sent us to bathe in the pool. Tom got in the pool too, naked. Everyone in the house goes around naked except the guards."

Many of the Mexican boys who gave testimony said that condoms were used during anal and oral sex and that White kept a huge supply of the prophylactics. Some of the boys said they were given marijuana or cocaine.

One boy said he shared White’s bed for a week, but most said they were dispatched in about an hour, then given food, access to the pool, money and transportation back to town. Some said they were paid $10 or $15 for sex, others got $80 or $100.

Some of the children recounted drinking wine, tequila, beer or other alcoholic drinks in which "a white powder" was dissolved, supposedly to help them achieve or keep erections. Most said they were videotaped by cameras in White’s bedroom.

Another 14-year-old, who said he made two visits to the Casa Blanca, recounted a scene in which "Señor Tom" allegedly completed fellatio on him, then turned to two of Marcos’ young friends and had sex with both of them. In the same room, a fourth companion "was playing Nintendo and wasn’t with anybody."

There are obviously a number of questions to ask of Eric Roach. 

1) Did you know that your business partner was engaged in this behavior?  If so, did you confront him about this and explain that it was not OK to engage in sex with individuals under the age of 18?

2) Why is there a discrepancy about who started and funded the brokerage firm that you made your personal fortune from?  Were you the principal founder or was White?  Was it your money that started the firm or White’s?  Or did the two of you go into the project together?

3) Since published reports about White’s activities have come out have you spoken to White?  What kind of relationship have you had with him since Lombard was sold in 1997?