City of Richmond announces discipline recommendations for 9 cops tied to teen sex scandal

Byby Elissa Harrington KGO logo
Saturday, September 24, 2016
City of Richmond announces discipline recommendations for 9 cops tied to teen sex scandal
The city of Richmond has announced recommendations to discipline nine officers linked to a teen sex scandal. The recommendations don't include any criminal charges, but the city does want at least one officer fired.

HAYWARD, Calif. (KGO) -- There's new fallout from the sex scandal involving a teenager that has rocked several Bay Area police agencies.

The city of Richmond has announced recommendations to discipline nine officers. The recommendations don't include any criminal charges, but the city does want at least one officer fired.

The Mayor said he is disappointed and outraged, but also defended the steps the city is taking to discipline these officers.

"I think most people feel like this has been taken care of. What else can you do. You're not going to take people out and shoot 'em or something," said Richmond Mayor Tom Butt.

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The internal affairs investigation reviewed more than 10,000 text messages, plus phone records, social media pages, and interviews with the young woman at the center of the investigation Jasmine Abuslin, who used to go by the name Celeste Guap.

The recommendations include one termination, one demotion, two suspensions, and five letters of reprimand.

"Something like this is a breach of public trust and I think we have some rebuilding to do," said city manager Bill Lindsay.

Lindsay says each officer will get a hearing before their final punishment is decided.

In a statement, police chief Allwyn Brown said, "I am sorry that the misconduct of these individuals has brought embarrassment to the City of Richmond and the Richmond Police Department."

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Meanwhile, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office is filing criminal charges against seven Bay Area officers linked to Abuslin. Her attorney commented on the developments in Richmond.

"We think that the Richmond Police Department was well aware of the problems and has been slow to attack and has minimized the conduct to some extent," said Abuslin's attorney Jasmine Price.

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The district attorney recently criticized the Richmond Police Department for encouraging Abuslin to seek treatment in Florida when she was needed here for the investigation.

Lindsay said he believes the officers did that in good faith.

Click here for full coverage on the Bay Area police sex scandal.