Contra Costa County prosecutors will bring one additional charge in Bay Area police sex scandal
A months-long review into allegations of sexual contact between East Bay law enforcement officers and the teenager at the center of a scandal that has roiled the Bay Area for months has yielded only one prosecutable case, Contra Costa County Dist. Atty. Mark Peterson said Friday.
Peterson said that officers had sexual contact with Jasmine Abuslin, now 19, in Contra Costa County but did not do so while she was underage, did not pay for sex and did not leak confidential police information to her in exchange.
Prosecutors reviewed allegations of sexual encounters between Abuslin and officers from the San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond police departments, as well as deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff’s office, that took place in Contra Costa County, Peterson said. Investigators reviewed 14 hours of video recorded statements she gave to Alameda County investigators and conducted their own interviews with her, he said.
“According to her, all of those encounters were when she was over 18. According to her, all of those interactions were consensual. According to her, all of those interactions were not done for money,†Peterson said at a news conference.
While he called the officers’ conduct “reprehensible†and criticized them for failing to offer Abuslin a way out of the illicit sex trade, Peterson said almost none of the incidents rose to the level of a crime.
Abuslin claimed she was paid to have sex with one retired Oakland police captain, Peterson said. The retired officer spoke to authorities and admitted he did pay Abuslin for sex, Peterson said, adding that he would be charged with soliciting a prostitute.
Peterson did not identify the retired officer because formal charges have yet to be filed.
Peterson’s announcement is the latest turn in a sex crimes scandal that has roiled the Bay Area law enforcement community for months. The situation gained national attention in June when Abuslin said in a televised news interview that she had sex with at least a dozen Oakland police officers, as well as law enforcement officers from several other East Bay law enforcement agencies.
Alameda County Dist. Atty. Nancy E. O’Malley has said five Oakland police officers, a former Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy and an ex-Livermore police officer will face criminal charges in the scandal. The charges, announced in September, range from felony oral copulation with a minor to obstruction of justice. Six of those officers have been formally charged.
When she announced the charges, O’Malley said her office’s investigation also uncovered potential misconduct in the city of San Francisco, as well as San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties. The San Joaquin County district attorney’s office has launched an investigation, according to an agency spokesman.
Calls to the San Francisco district attorney’s office seeking comment were not immediately returned.
Four Oakland police officers have been fired and seven have been suspended as a result of the scandal. Several Richmond police officers were also fired after the department finished its own review of the scandal.
Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.
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