O’Brien’s suicide note detailed certain officers’ involvement with Guap, prompting an internal affairs investigation by Oakland police identifying several officers as having pimped the teenager across multiple Bay Area police departments.
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The charges range from oral copulation with a minor, engaging in acts of prostitution, obstruction of justice, failure to report sexual misconduct involving a minor, and unauthorized access to a criminal justice computer system. Ms. Schaaf, the Oakland mayor, said earlier this week that she was “deeply sorry for the harm that this scandal has caused, particularly to community trust”.
Current Oakland police officers Giovani LoVerde, Warit Utappa and Brian Bunton, as well as former officers Leroy Johnson and Tyrell Smith are to be charged. On Thursday, a Livermore police officer who had been on administrative leave resigned after seeing the results of his department’s investigation.
Two counts of Penal Code 647 (b), Engaging in An Act of Prostitution, misdemeanors, Two Counts of Penal Code Section 647 (a), Engaging in a Lewd Act in a Public Place, misdemeanors.
Former Livermore Police Officer Dan Black is being charged engaging in an act of prostitution and lewd acts in a public place. However, prosecutors in other counties said they aren’t conducting criminal investigations. One of the Oakland officers resigned from the department in May: Terryl Smith.
The scandal soon widened, as the woman claimed she also had sex or other inappropriate contact with officers from the Richmond Police Department, Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, Livermore Police Department and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. The teenager claims that since she was 14 years old, she she has been sexually trafficked. Seven other officers will be suspended without pay and one will receive counseling and training, Schaaf said. Mayor Schaff did not specify the name of the officers she was referring to, so it is unclear if she was talking about the police officers O’Malley is charging. “Our officers are just as disappointed as everyone else in the blemish these events have made on the reputations of Oakland Police officers”, Oakland Police Officers’ Association president Barry Donelan said in a statement. Three successive police chiefs resigned in June in a department known nationally for its disproportionate targeting and use of force against Black people.
The teenager at the heart of the sexual relations scandal is now in Florida undergoing rehabilitation. “We were not informed, and we protested once we learned she had been moved”, O’Malley said. She has said that she had sexual relations “with at least five Richmond officers”. However, she did reveal that she had found evidence that the teen had engaged in sexual activity with officers in other other jurisdictions outside Oakland including San Francisco, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin. In June, O’Malley announced that an investigation had been launched into the allegations of sexual misconduct. She added it does not matter if that person is “a police officer, a doctor, a probation officer, or a lawyer or a judge”.
Prosecutors said Friday that the officers face charges for crimes involving sexual misconduct with a teenage sex worker.
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Celeste Guap, the now 19-year-old woman in the middle of the rape scandal, was arrested last week for battery while she was at a rehab center.
