Jasmine Abuslin (Twitter)
The teenager at the center of a sex scandal that’s rocked the Oakland Police Department was approved to receive a settlement worth nearly $1 million by the Oakland City Council early Wednesday morning.
The group voted 7-1 in favor of paying 19-year-old Jasmine Abuslin, who was a prostitute known as as Celeste Guap, $989,000 in damages for allegedly being paid to have sex with several Oakland Police officers while she was underage, ABC 7 News reported.
Abuslin and her attorneys had previously sought $66 million in damages from the city, claiming that the officers violated at least 11 federal and six state laws when they paid her to have sex while she was a minor. She claimed that she was “sexually victimized and exploited” by the officers, and said that “three out of all the 30 paid (her).” She only filed a notice of claim and not a formal lawsuit against the city, though.
Following the approval, Oakland City Councilmember At-Large Rebecca Kaplan said in a statement that something has to change within the department.
“Many are feeling dismay with this gross misconduct that was not only harmful to the then minor, Jasmine, but also that the misconduct will cost tax-payers as well,” she said. “We need to ensure that we are building the conditions that make it possible to have trust and healing between the community and our law enforcement officers, and cut sexual misconduct and other forms of abuse.
“It’s time to pay the settlement agreement to let this young woman get on with her life and her healing, but also for Oakland to step up and change the culture in the police department and change how we recruit and train our officers.”
The scandal surfaced in 2015 when she started to share information about her encounters with the officers. She alleged that officers willingly gave her information about future police raids in exchange for sex. She first identified herself after officer Brendan O’Brien committed suicide after she threatened to expose him.
O’Brien wrote in his suicide note that he and other officers at the department were involved sexual relationships with Abuslin.
Investigations that were launched into the accusations have led to charges against seven Bay Area police officers for having sexual interactions with her while she was underage. Other officers face charges of obstruction of justice and engaging in prostitution.
Abuslin has claimed to have numerous sexual relationships with men across the city and also said that one officer attempted to be her pimp.
Last year, Abuslin had traveled to Florida to check into a rehabilitation center for a drug and sex addiction. She had said that some of the officers she had sexual relations with encouraged her to go to the facility, saying that it “was a paid vacation.”
After just three days at the center, though, she was arrested on a felony aggravated battery charge. She allegedly went outside of the rehab facility and “flashed” motorists on a highway. An arrest report obtained by CBS 12 News said that workers at the facility tried to get her back inside, but she became combative, causing damage to property. The report said that Abuslin “lunged” at employees and bit a worker. In addition to that, she allegedly tried to solicit sex from the law enforcement officers that responded to the scene.
After that incident, she spoke with ABC7 I-Team’s Dan Noyes, who found out that she was living a life of confinement that included 24-hour protection from armed guards.