The Richmond police said Tuesday its department has opened an investigation into the growing sex scandal involving an 18-year-old woman, who has alleged to NBC Bay Area that she's had sex with 28 police officers across multiple agencies.
Capt. Bisa French said police "recently opened an internal investigation after learning about the connection of the young lady at the center of the Oakland investigation and several of our officers." French said detectives had not yet interviewed the woman known by her fake name as Celeste Guap, but they were hoping to sometime this week.
So far Oakland police, the Alameda County Sheriff and the District Attorney are investigating her claims: That she had sex with officers, sometimes in exchange for money and sometimes in exchange for information related to prostitution sweeps, so that she could avoid arrests. As of Monday, five Oakland officers were put on leave stemming from her allegations and Police Chief Sean Whent suddenly resigned last week, even though Mayor Libby Schaaf said it was for "personal reasons." At least one Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy was also placed on leave following claims he had sex with the teen when she was a minor, the department said.
Guap told NBC Bay Area that she's had sex with officers from the Richmond Police Department, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, as well as a Livermore police officer, some in San Francisco, and a law enforcement worker based in Stockton. In all, she said she's had sex with 28 law enforcement officers throughout the Bay Area. Guap also told NBC Bay Area she befriended Whent's wife on Facebook and told her that she was dating an Oakland police officer when she was just 17.
That number is double the number she described to the East Bay Express, which broke open the growing scandal, and the East Bay Times, which confirmed many of the details.
Guap told those news agencies that she had sex with at least 14 Oakland officers, including three when she was underage; that two officers provided her with confidential police information, including tips on scheduled anti-prostitution stings; and that a retired OPD captain in his 80s paid $250 to have sex with her in a rundown San Pablo Avenue motel.
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In April, Guap posted a photo of an Oakland police cruiser in front of a Food Mart with this message: "Took me back to richmond (sic) in style #saucy."
Sources also told both news organization that Whent's ouster was at the behest of the federal monitor overseeing the department over a growing sex scandal involving Guap, the daughter of a police dispatcher, who said she exchanged sex with officers for being tipped off about prostitution rings so that she could avoid arrest.
Mayor Libby Schaaf originally told reporters on Friday that Whent’s departure had nothing to do with the sex scandal.
NBC Bay Area's Stephanie Chuang contributed to this report.
