City Government

Oakland Settles $989,000 Claim of Sexually Exploited Teen ‘Celeste Guap’

Published

9 years ago

May 31, 2017

By Darwin BondGraham, East Bay Express

At the end of a nine-hour meeting that went until 2 a.m. this morning, the Oakland City Council approved a $989,000 claim filed by the young woman known as Celeste Guap.

Guap, who is now 19-years-old, was sexually exploited by upwards of 30 police officers and sheriff’s deputies from various Bay Area police agencies between 2015 and 2016.

The daughter of an Oakland Police Department dispatcher, Guap has said in past interviews that she was a commercially exploited child sex worker, and that she met several Oakland cops while she was still underage and working on the streets.

Her treatment at the hands of numerous police officers, and the resulting scandal due to the Oakland Police Department’s effort to cover up an internal investigation of the incidents, led to the resignation of three police chiefs last year, and the filing of criminal charges against multiple current and former police officers from Oakland, a Livermore cop, and a Contra Costa sheriff’s deputy.

“The settlement occurred with no admission of liability, but obviously if you pay $1 million, you figure you got some responsibility,” said Guap’s attorney John Burris in a press statement issued today.

Councilmember Desley Brooks registered the sole no vote against the settlement, saying she believed the young woman’s suffering wasn’t fairly compensated, and that it is wrong for the city to claim no responsibility.

“Think about this young girl, who was victimized under the color of authority,” said Brooks. “There is something wrong with this.”

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf characterized the settlement as a quick and fair resolution, and said in an emailed statement that she and her new police chief are focused on “rebuilding the public trust that was so damaged by this incident.”

Schaaf said the city’s new police commission would bring added oversight to the department.

“These steps further our commitment to consistently advancing best practices, holding officers accountable, and ensuring that OPD meets the highest standards of policing.”

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said in a statement that the scandal was partly the result of OPD’s lack of diversity and that the department needs to undergo a cultural change.

“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,” said Kaplan. “This includes recruiting more women, LGBT people, African Americans and more people from Oakland.”

The vote came after a lengthy city council meeting, much of which focused on Oakland’s upcoming two-year budget. Numerous members of the public commented throughout the night that the city should spend less on its police, and more on homeless services and affordable housing.

Under Schaaf’s proposal, the police department’s budget would grow from $274 million this past year to $291 million in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Many commented that they think the proposed $250,000 two-year increase on homelessness services is too low. Members of an ad hoc working group on homelessness said the city should instead allocate $10 million next year to provide basic services like water, trash pickup, toilets, and fire extinguishers to the homeless camps, while also spending money to acquire properties as transitional housing.

As with all other costly police misconduct settlements, the nearly $1 million settlement in the Guap case will be paid out of the city’s general purpose fund.

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Oakland Post: Week of July 22 – 28, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 22 – 28, 2026

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1 day ago

July 27, 2026

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Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 15 – 21, 2026

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1 week ago

July 18, 2026

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From Disparity Study to Solutions: Oakland Coalition and Mayor Barbara Lee Renew Commitment to Reform City Contracting

She committed to ensuring the coalition has direct access to City leadership by designating Assistant Deputy City Administrator Chuck Baker the primary liaison. Working alongside Deputy City Administrator Sofia Navarro, DWES Director Emylene Aspilla, Race and Equity Director Darlene Flynn, and other City departments, the coalition will continue advancing these priorities while maintaining regular communication with City leadership.

Published

2 weeks ago

July 15, 2026

Oakland Post

Present at the recent meeting on implementing recommendations on Oakland’s Disparity Study on city work contracts were (first row, l. to r.): Chuck Baker, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and Darlene Flynn. Second row, l. to r.) Samuel Adams, Erica Astrella, Chadwick Spell, Cathy Adams, Stanley Cooper, Maria Wagner, Len Turner, Derek Barnes, Paul Cobb. Photo courtesy of Oakland Mayor’s Office.

Special to The Post

On June 30, a coalition of minority business leaders, contractors and others met with Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee to discuss the City’s commitment to implement recommendations outlined in Oakland’s Disparity Study and eliminate barriers that have historically prevented Black and minority-owned businesses from fully participating in public contracting opportunities.

Representatives of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce (OAACC), National Association of Minority Contractors Northern California (NAMC NorCal), Construction Resource Center (CRC), and the East Bay Rental Housing Association (EBRHA) said the meeting represented an important milestone in a process that has been underway for several months.

On April 21, the Oakland City Council’s Life Enrichment Committee received a progress report from the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES), where Director Emylene Aspilla presented the coalition’s working document and outlined a collaborative implementation plan between the coalition and the City. That report established 30-, 60-, and 90-day objectives focused on five key priorities:

Reforming Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) waiver practices
Strengthening prompt payment compliance
Improving procurement forecasting and transparency
Expanding contractor capacity building and business development
Increasing oversight, accountability, and public reporting

A series of working sessions was scheduled between coalition representatives, DWES, and the City Administrator’s Office to begin implementing those priorities but were temporarily delayed by the resignation of former City Administrator Jestin Johnson.

Rather than allowing that momentum to stall, OAACC President and CEO Cathy Adams requested a meeting with Lee to gain clarity on the City’s direction and reaffirm its commitment to implementing the recommendations contained within the Disparity Study.

Coalition leaders described the meeting as productive, candid, collaborative, and encouraging.

During the meeting, Lee spoke not only from her role as mayor but also from her experience as an 8(a) contractor and business owner, sharing that she understands firsthand what it takes to build and grow a successful company, employ a substantial workforce, compete for public work, and navigate the complexities of municipal contracting.

Mayor Lee also expressed her commitment to personally participate in future working meetings with the coalition.

“This meeting represents a renewed commitment to partnership,” said Adams. “Mayor Lee listened, engaged, and demonstrated that she wants to move beyond conversation and into implementation.”

CRC’s Len Turner said the roadmap is already in place. ““The City already has the evidence. What’s been missing is execution. …Now it’s time to deliver results.”

Mario Wagner, president of NAMC NorCal agreed that the next phase must focus on implementation, funding, and accountability.

“The coalition is ready to get to work. …The next step is ensuring these initiatives receive meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle. Just as important, the City must establish transparent reporting mechanisms that keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and accountability.”

Coalition leaders also acknowledged that while City leadership has indicated it is reviewing Local and Small Local Business Enterprise waiver practices, the community continues to seek a formal response regarding existing long-term waivers, including waivers extending 10 and 25 years. The coalition believes those waivers should be comprehensively reviewed and, where appropriate, rolled back as part of the City’s broader contracting reforms.

The coalition is also calling on the City to include meaningful funding in the upcoming fiscal budget cycle to support implementation of the Disparity Study recommendations and establish better methods and mechanisms to keep the public informed through regular progress reports, measurable benchmarks, and transparent accountability.

The coalition’s immediate next step is to schedule a working meeting with Baker, Aspilla, Lee, and the appropriate City staff to review what has already been accomplished under the implementation framework.