An investigation into the alleged trafficking of an underage sex worker by members of the Oakland Police Department, perhaps with the knowledge of their superiors, has expanded to include a look at the San Francisco Police Department, an investigator with the Alameda County District Attorney's office, and another Oakland Police employee. The widening scandal has already lead to the removal of Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent and deepened to implicate more officers as Whent's would-be replacement, BART Police's Deputy Chief Ben Fairow, was quickly removed in turn by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf for reasons that remain somewhat unclear.
KRON 4 reports that the now 18-year-old dispatcher's daughter being referred to in the press as Celeste Guap claims to have had sex with "like 2 [officers] from SF," one of whom was a former OPD officer, though in both cases after she came of age.
“We are aware of the investigation [of Oakland Police] and are conducting a review to determine if any of our members had any inappropriate contact with the victim.” SFPD media relations tells KRON 4.
Additionally, as KRON 4 also reports, an investigator from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office Rick Orozco, who is himself a former OPD officer, has been placed on leave once it came to light he had been sexting, if not having sex with, Guap. Their digital but explicit relationship began while she was still a minor, Guap says.
In the recent past, Guap alleged she's had assignations with dozens of police officers, sometimes in exchange for tip-offs to stings and de facto protection from arrest for her sex work. It's also been alleged that she had sex with at least three Oakland police officers while she was underage as well as more officers from the Richmond Police Department and the Alameda County Sheriff's Department (however, those deputies have reportedly been cleared of wrongdoing).
"I think cops are fine." Guap reportedly said of the subject. "They’re cute and all, but it’s like one less officer that’s gonna arrest me."
Much of the scandal involving Guap appears to have come to light under tragic circumstances: Through the suicide note of an Oakland Police Officer, Brendan O'Brien. Guap claims she was rescued as a 17-year-old girl by O'Brien from a pimp, and claims she began dating and having a sexual relationship with him while underage. O'Brien's wife appears to have killed herself a year earlier (January 2014), though her death was initially investigated as a homicide in which O'Brien was questioned. O'Brien then took his own life last September. Importantly, it's also alleged that former Police Chief Whent's wife knew of O'Brien's relationship with Guap, implicating him and perhaps providing grounds for his removal.
Meanwhile, the Chronicle reported yesterday that another Oakland Police Department employee is now under investigation in the scandal, while CBSSF had news that another still is on leave and under investigation for possible wrongdoing that's unrelated to the scandal.
KRON4 reports furthermore that Mayor Schaaf has called for a new investigation into police criminal misconduct, one to be conducted by the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.
“Today, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Administrator Sabrina Landreth announced that at their request, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office will be handling an investigation into alleged criminal misconduct by a member of the Oakland Police Department (OPD)," or so mayoral spokesperson Erica Derryck wrote in a press release circulated yesterday. "This investigation is separate and unrelated to the ongoing investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by members of OPD.”
“We are still not at liberty to discuss details of any ongoing investigation without risking compromise of the investigation and potentially jeopardizing our efforts to hold wrongdoers accountable," Derryck went on. "However, given the current climate we felt it necessary to make this announcement. This is an effort to reassure the public that we are taking swift action to address every instance of misconduct. Oakland residents and the good men and women in the Oakland Police Department who nobly serve this community deserve nothing less.”
Previously:
Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent Resigns Amidst Officer Sex Scandal
Oakland Police Sex Scandal Blows Up Further With Details From Formerly Underage Prostitute
Oakland Police Sex Scandal Deepens With More East Bay Officers Implicated, Interim Oakland Chief Fired
Why Was The Interim Oakland Police Chief Canned So Quickly?