The Oakland Police Department has had a hard time holding onto police chiefs and keeping its name out of the headlines since May, when details began to emerge (first via the suicide note of an Oakland police officer) implicating multiple cops in a sexual abuse scandal involving a teenage girl.
The Associated Press later reported that the alleged victim, a 19-year-old former sex worker named Jasmine (previously known to the press by her alias “Celeste Guap”) had sex with about 30 cops in the Bay Area in the last two years, and that four of these encounters occurred before she turned 18.
On Friday, a $66 million lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jasmine against the city of Oakland and the Oakland PD, claiming that some of its members exploited her while others ignored the ongoing abuse.
The lawsuit contends that members of the Oakland PD:
“either directly engaged in, stood by with a blind eye, or acted to cover up this modern-day slavery of [Jasmine]…. These acts constitute unlawful forced labor, trafficking into servitude and sex trafficking of a child by force, fraud and coercion have caused [Jasmine] to suffer unimaginable abuse, pain, and suffering that she and her family will endure for the rest of her life.”
On September 9, seven cops operating in the Oakland area were charged with crimes stemming from the investigation into the sex scandal. The charges range from obstruction of justice to “felony oral copulation with a minor,” according to ABC News. On Friday, charges against two of the officers were formally filed; the rest are pending, NBC reports.
According to court documents obtained by NBC, former Livermore cop Daniel Black picked up Jasmine in his motorhome last April and told her, before they engaged in oral sex, “Just to be clear, I’m not paying you, but I will buy you dinner.” Black was charged on five counts including giving alcohol to a minor and engaging in prostitution.
The documents also reveal that former Oakland PD sergeant Leroy Johnson was charged with failing to report child abuse.