Teen Claims 24 Oakland Police Officers Paid Her for Sex

After Oakland police officer Brendan O’Brien committed suicide last September, an investigation into sexual misconduct in the police force began. The probe was instigated by O’Brien’s suicide note where he wrote that he and other officers were paying 18-year-old Celeste Guap for sex. Guap – whose real name is being withheld due to the nature of the investigation – has since come forward and admitted to sleeping with 24 officers for money, 3 of which while she was still a minor.

“A lot [of them] knew I was underage because they nicknamed me ‘juve,’ which is short for juvenile,” she told The Mercury News. 

The accused officers come from 5 different departments all over Oakland, and may be directly linked to the reason that Police Chief Sean Whent stepped down for “personal reasons” earlier this week. Guap had also reportedly spoken with Whent’s wife, Julia Whent, on Facebook last June, bringing the now former Police Chief further into the fold. Mrs. Went apparently knew that Guap “was dating an officer” but never asked about her age, which was 17 at the time they spoke.

Guap says she began selling her body at the age of 12 in Richmond. She was eventually picked up by a pimp and moved to Oakland. That’s where she met Officer Brendan O’Brien, who sheltered her while she was on the run from her pimp. She and O’Brien then began to engage in a sexual relationship that eventually expanded to other officers within the police force.

“They were my protectors,” she reportedly said. “I didn’t have a pimp at the time. It did make me feel safer, having them.”

One of these accused officers is a retired Police Captain in his 80s, who allegedly paid $250 for Guap to have sex with him in a dirty old motel on San Pablo Avenue.

Guap has also claimed that Officer Terryl Smith, who had already resigned earlier this year, not only gave her access to confidential information including arrest records, but also had a mattress in his off-duty car. About once a week over a three month span, the two would have sex in the car around 2 a.m. after he finished his shift.

A nameless officer who went by the screen name “Superman,” would give Guap tips about undercover prostitution stings, according to text messages Guap shared with Bay Area News Group. “Want some advice?” one message said. “Stay off E14 from Fruitvale to 42 tonight. There’s a UC operation.”

Needless to say, the entire Oakland police organization is in chaos, with leaders condemning the actions of those involved and pointing the finger at the now former Police Chief Sean Whent for not coming forward with information earlier, especially that his wife was in contact with Guap.

The investigation is still ongoing.