The case of the Richmond woman at the heart of a sex scandal that rocked several law enforcement agencies has reached its first stage of resolution.
ABC7 reports that 19-year-old Jasmine Abuslin has accepted a settlement offer from the City of Oakland in the amount of $989,000. The amount was suggested by the City Attorney and approved by the City Council last night.
"It was the best interest of the city to settle this matter quickly and fairly. We need to focus our attention on rebuilding the public trust that was so damaged by this incident," Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf told ABC.
"I feel happy that I can close this chapter and move on with my life," said Abuslin at a press conference in Oakland this morning.
Abuslin claimed she was just 17-years-old when she began having relationships with members law enforcement. Her on-going relationship with several members of the Oakland Police Department resulted in a far-reaching sex scandal and a $66 million lawsuit filed against numerous cities and jurisdictions on behalf of Abuslin. We (along with everyone else) have covered this case extensively here, here, here, here, here, and here.
"Most importantly, this case is about bad, bad, outrageous behavior on the part of people who are police officers, who were sworn to uphold the law and engage in regular contact violating the oath of law enforcement they had taken," Attorney John Burris told members of the press. For his work, Burris will receive approximately one-third of the settlement.
Abuslin said during the press conference that she is willing to testify in the criminal charges brought against five Oakland police officers involved in the scandal, should those cases go to trial.
According to the Chronicle, Abuslin was asked whether she thought anyone would come to her aid when the scandal broke about a year ago. The 19-year-old responded, "No, I did not. I didn't think anybody cared about prostitutes."
All previous coverage of the case on SFist.