The Oakland police sex scandal is ricocheting across the East Bay as the woman at the center of it now says she had sex with two dozen current and former officers from five departments -- from Richmond to Livermore. And sources say that Oakland police's botched handling of the investigation is what precipitated Chief Sean Whent's sudden departure this week at the behest of the federal monitor overseeing the department.
© PhotodeskIn this text to Celeste Guap (not her real name), an 18-year-old who was involved in sex work, an Oakland police officer whom Guap calls "Superman," allegedly reveals undercover prostitution operations to her. Phone number in upper left corner has been blacked out.
In a telephone interview on Saturday, Celeste Guap, a Richmond resident, said she slept with three of the 24 officers -- all from Oakland's police department -- before she turned 18 last August.
© Ray Chavez/Bay Area News GroupOakland Police Chief Sean Whent speaks during a March 2015 community meeting. Whent resigned earlier this week.
She also said that two Oakland officers provided her confidential police information, including tips on scheduled anti-prostitution stings, and a retired OPD captain in his 80s paid $250 to have sex with her in a dingy San Pablo Avenue motel. The captain and several other officers named by Guap did not return calls for comment.
Guap, whose real name this paper won't publish because she met the officers as an exploited minor caught up in sex work, said she didn't lie about her age to them. "A lot knew I was underage because they nicknamed me 'juve,' which is short for juvenile," she said.
In perhaps the most surprising allegation -- one that might help explain Whent's sudden dismissal as chief -- Guap said she also talked via Facebook last June to his wife, Julia Whent. Julia Whent, she said, knew "I was dating an officer" but never asked if she was underage.
Comment: It seems Ms. Little's parents have raised her to be a thinking, compassionate human being. The world needs so many more of them.