3 More Officers Charged In Police Sex Scandal
HAYWARD (CBS SF) -- Three more Bay Area law enforcement officers had felony charges filed against them Monday in connection with the sexual exploitation of a teenager at the center of a wide-ranging police scandal, the Alameda County District Attorney's office said.
The scandal centers around a 19-year-old sex worker who called herself Celeste Guap. She claims she slept with dozens of police officers, including some while she was underage. Those claims triggered internal affairs investigations at several Bay Area law enforcement agencies.
The woman, who is now being referred to by her real name Jasmine Abuslin, returned to the Bay Area last week with her attorneys after being arrested in Florida on battery charges.
Attorneys Charles Bonner and Pamela Price had flown there to assist in the woman's release from jail in Martin County and to bring her back to California. She is expected to testify against seven current and former law enforcement officers from three agencies facing criminal charges in Alameda County.
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The felony complaints and declarations of probable cause for the three cases were filed Monday afternoon in the Hayward Hall of Justice, according to Alameda County District Attorney's office spokeswoman Teresa Drenick.
The three officers charged in the cases include two Oakland police officers and one Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy.
Oakland police Officer Giovani LoVerde was charged with felony oral copulation with a minor in July of 2015. According to the court documents, the incident happened in the area of Lake Merritt after the victim had met with LoVerde online when she was only 17 years old.
Meanwhile, Oakland police Officer Brian Bunton was charged with one count of felony obstruction of justice and one count of engaging in an act of prostitution. Bunton is accused of providing the victim information about an undercover sting happening on International Boulevard in Oakland during a specific evening.
According to the court documents, the victim said Bunton received sex in exchange for the information.
Contra Costa County sheriff's Deputy Ricardo Perez, who resigned as details of the scandal emerged, was charged with one count of felony oral copulation with a minor and with two counts of committing a lewd act in a public place.
According to court documents, the victim said she had intercourse with Perez multiple times in an unknown location near Fish Ranch Road in the Oakland Hills.
Last Friday, two other officers were charged in connection with the case.
Former Livermore police officer Dan Black, 49, who resigned his post, is charged with two counts of engaging in prostitution, two counts of performing lewd acts, and one count of giving alcohol to a person under 21.
The crimes allegedly occurred in Berkeley in April after Black bought dinner for the woman, according to the charges.
Retired Oakland police officer Leroy Johnson is charged with failing to report suspected child abuse in September 2015 after the teenager told him in a Facebook message that she had engaged in sex with other Oakland officers and was underage in some of the encounters.
According to Drenick, there are two additional cases still to be filed related to the underage sex scandal, but she did not have a specific timeline for those cases.