The woman who alleged last year that she had sex with more than a dozen Oakland, Calif., police officers has settled a claim against the city for approximately $1 million, according to her attorney and the City Council.
The accusations made last year by 19-year-old Jasmine Abuslin sparked national outrage and sent shock waves through the Oakland Police Department and Bay Area law enforcement community. Some of the encounters, she said, happened while she was underage. Abuslin also claimed officers gave her information about planned police raids in exchange for sex.
A series of investigations that began last summer have led to criminal charges against seven Bay Area law enforcement officers. the departure of Police Chief Sean Whent and discipline against several other Oakland cops. Investigators with the Alameda County district attorney's office and the Richmond Police Department were also fired amid fallout from the scandal.
The city agreed to settle Abuslin's claim for up to $989,000 during a City Council meeting, according to the council's website. The vote did not take place until around 2 a.m. Wednesday, passing by 7-1, said civil rights attorney John Burris, who represents Abuslin.
"The settlement occurred with no admission of liability, but obviously, if you pay $1 million, you figure you got some responsibility," he said in a statement.
The dissenting vote came from Councilwoman Desley Brooks, who wanted Abuslin to receive a larger settlement, according to Councilman Noel Gallo.
A formal lawsuit was never filed, according to Burris. Abuslin filed a notice of claim with the city last year, while she was represented by a different attorney. Burris said he still may bring claims against the San Francisco, Livermore and Richmond police departments, as well as the Alameda and Contra Costa county sheriff's departments. Abuslin has made claims against officers in each agency, Burris said.
An Oakland police spokeswoman referred all questions to the city attorney's office, which declined to comment Wednesday morning. In a statement, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the city is committed to moving forward from the scandal and fostering a culture of accountability and transparency within the city's police department.
"It was in the best interest of the City to settle this matter quickly and fairly," the mayor said. "We remain focused on rebuilding the public trust that was so damaged by this incident."
The Los Angeles Times does not normally name victims of sexual assault, but Abuslin has identified herself during a number of public appearances and interviews. She was initially known by the pseudonym "Celeste Guap," which she used during a June television interview that subjected Oakland to national scrutiny.
The lurid details of the scandal stretch back to September 2015, when a suicide note left by Oakland Police Officer Brendan O'Brien suggested he and other officers had been engaged in sexual relationships with a young sex worker in the city's troubled Fruitvale neighborhood, which includes International Boulevard, Oakland's main prostitution stroll.
The investigation widened in the summer, when Abuslin, then publicly known by another name, told a television reporter that she had sex with more than a dozen members of the Oakland Police Department as well as officials with other law enforcement agencies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy E. O'Malley announced charges last September against five Oakland police officers, a former Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy and a retired Livermore police officer in connection with the investigation. Two of the officers have since resolved their cases.
In January, former Oakland police Officer Leroy Johnson pleaded no contest to failure to report sexual misconduct with a minor, according to Assistant District Attorney Teresa Drenick. He was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to stay away from Abuslin, Drenick said. Retired Livermore, Calif., police Officer Dan Black pleaded no contest to solicitation of lewd conduct in February, according to Drenick. His judgment was deferred, and the case will be dismissed in May 2018 if he successfully completes probation, Drenick said.
Four former Oakland police officers and a former Contra Costa County deputy still face charges in the case. Two of them are charged with having oral sexual interactions with Abuslin while she was underage.
The scandal proved to be a serious setback to Oakland's police department, which has operated under a federal monitor since 2003 as the result of a previous excessive force scandal. Whent, who had been credited with helping the city make serious reductions in violent crime, resigned shortly after Abuslin's interview.
Two other interim chiefs were selected, and almost immediately dismissed, in the following week. Schaaf eventually decided to place the department under civilian control.
Earlier this year, Schaff selected Anne Kirkpatrick, a former high-ranking cop in Chicago who also once served as chief of the Spokane, Wash., Police Department, to lead the agency.
Burris, a longtime critic of the department, said it has a long way to go to regain the trust it lost as a result of the scandal.
"How did we create this culture where so many in the department either were willing to engage in or hide sexual misconduct?" he said in the statement. "It seems we need to rebuild the department with more women and more respect."
Oakland City Councilman Noel Gallo, who represents the Fruitvale neighborhood where Abuslin has said her encounters with city police officers began, said he hoped the settlement would be the first step in a long healing process.
"I certainly understand and am sad for the way she was abused, mistreated, manipulated and so forth by the police officers I'm paying with my tax dollars for the safety of the city of Oakland," he said.
In recent months, Abuslin has started taking part in anti-sex trafficking initiatives and other awareness campaigns led by Gallo and local activists in the Fruitvale neighborhood, he said.
"I admire her for where she is today, and certainly all the attention is challenging, but she's looking for direction," he said. "And that's what we're trying to provide her."
