7 Oakland Cops Charged over Underage Sex Worker Rape Scandal

Seven current and former police officers from three San Francisco Bay Area counties were charged Friday over a rape scandal that has embroiled more than two dozen officers in seven police departments.

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The scandal came to light in June, when an investigation found that officers were soliciting sex from an underage sex worker—then 17—and would, in exchange, give her tips on upcoming prostitution raids.

Charges include oral copulation with a minor, engaging in prostitution, lewd acts, soliciting and failure to report sexual assault.

District Attorney Nancy O’Malley named former sheriff’s Deputy Ricardo Perez from Contra Costa, Officer Dan Black from Livermore and officers Brian Bunton, Warit Utappa, Giovani LoVerde, former Officer Tyrell Smith, and retired Sergeant Leroy Johnson from Oakland.

Smith could not be tried for rape because it happened outside of O’Malley’s jurisdiction—and Contra Costa County did not charge him because of “insufficient evidence”—but he was charged with illegally accessing criminal justice data. Perez was the only one who resigned when news of the scandal first broke.

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Four other officers were fired and seven suspended from the Oakland Police Department on Wednesday after being found guilty of attempted sexual assault, engaging in lewd conduct, assisting in the crime of prostitution and accessing law enforcement databases for personal gain, among other offenses.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who made the announcement, has been the target of heated protests against police abuse, impunity and racist gentrification. Three successive police chiefs resigned in June in a department known nationally for its disproportionate targeting and use of force against Black people.

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. Her family told reporters that they were not allowed to speak with her on the phone and that the arrest was retribution by police officers.