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Councilman accused of sending crude photos, emails won't resign

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange City councilman accused of sending crude emails and pictures on his city-issued iPad has refused to resign.

Tom Abraham allegedly took of photos of women without their knowledge and then wrote sexually suggestive comments about them.

WFTV's Blaine Tolison found out the mayor and the rest of the council could not convince Abraham to resign.

One of the images, taken of a woman in a store with a message from Abraham to a friend refers to the woman's thighs, breasts and other body parts.

Another he uses the expletives to describe a white woman and a black man on the street.

All of the pictures were taken of people without them knowing.

Mayor Tom Laputka had no reservations. He said Abraham's emails and pictures found on his city iPad are out of line. Even though, authorities found nothing criminal about them.

"But the dialogue and the emails themselves associated with the pictures, now they're very disturbing and that's where we run afoul," said Laputka.

On Tuesday night, two city council members called for Abraham's resignation. He said no, just as he did before when WFTV spoke to him last week.

"I am not going to resign and I don't think I should resign," he said.

The city has moved to censure Abraham and take away his iPad.

"They're very inappropriate. (It) shows racism, it shows inappropriate conduct toward women and little girls," said Laputka.

Laputka said his council, without action from residents, does not have the power to oust Abraham.

"What you're using is a public conveyance to do this with and it's … ethically wrong," said Laputka.

Laputka said there are two other options. The governor has the power to remove a councilmember, but only if they have committed a serious crime. The other option is for residents to file a petition for Abraham's removal.