The Oakland Police Department has known since September 2015 about their officers sexually exploiting a victim of human trafficking. The girl who calls herself Celeste Guap allegedly slept with as many as 31 police officers across multiple counties, some of them when she was still a minor. Officers paid Guap for sex and provided her with private information about prostitution stings.
At the same time as Celeste was being sexually exploited by police, Oakland Officers were busy “dedicating 110 percent of their resources” to fighting prostitution. They conducted 30 stings, made 295 prostitution arrests, and plastered mugshots of people accused of paying for sex on billboards. The city also displayed a series of billboards stating:
“Buying a teen for sex is child abuse. Turning a blind eye is neglect.”
The question remains, will this stance apply if those accused are police officers?
On Friday, District Attorney Nancy O’Malley finally announced that seven East Bay officers will be facing charges. The crimes that the officers could be convicted of include engaging in acts of prostitution, felony statutory rape, illegal use of a criminal justice computer system, and obstruction of justice.
However, warrants have yet to be written for the arrest of any of the seven officers. They still walk free. Three of them are still currently employed by the Oakland Police Department.
As reported by East Bay Express:
“Giovanni LoVerde, Brian Bunton, and Warit Uttapa. One of the Oakland officers resigned from the department in May: Terryl Smith. Another retired earlier this year: Sergeant LeRoy Johnson. The two other East Bay cops are Ricardo Perez, a Sheriff’s deputy in Contra Costa County who recently resigned, and Livermore police officer Dan Black, who left his job yesterday.”
O’Mally is awaiting Guap’s return to California to press charges against any of the officers.
O’Malley said:
“If we don’t have a witness, we can’t prosecute these cases.”
The trouble is that Guap is in a Florida prison facing felony charges. The young survivor of child abuse, human trafficking, and statutory rape was sent to rehab for treatment. While a patient in treatment she bit a guard. She is facing felony battery charges for that bite. Her bail was set for $300,000.
One has to wonder why was Guap sent to rehab on the other side of the country? Did one of the police departments under investigation for exploiting her attempt to get rid of their witness?
We're watching a modern, slow motion lynching of #CelesteGuap https://t.co/CjxGxOsMEY
— ⚡️DJ Styles⚡️ (@somanystyles) September 5, 2016
The Richmond Police Department used victim’s compensation program funds to send Guap to Florida. The Richmond Police Department does have officers under investigation in Guap’s case.
As reported by East Bay Express:
“O’Malley added that her office had no part in sending Guap to Florida, and that she understands the public outcry about the teenager’s secretive removal from California by another police agency whose officers are also under investigation for exploiting Guap.”
The decision about whether or not to charge Guap in Martin County Florida will be made early next week.
Why haven't the Bay Area's many anti-human trafficking orgs spoken up about the Celeste Guap situation?
Silence is deafening.
— Darwin BondGraham (@DarwinBondGraha) September 3, 2016
If text messages showed me engaging in sexual solicitation w/ a child – I'd be under the jail but NO charges 4 cops in Celeste Guap case???
— Cat Brooks (@CatsCommentary) September 1, 2016
You can donate to Guap’s legal expenses here. Please sign this petition to show you care about children being exploited by police.
Featured image from YouTube video.
