2nd East Bay police department opens sex misconduct investigation

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, left, speaks beside Oakland Chief of Police Sean Whent on Friday, May 13, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. An Internal investigation has been launched into alleged sexual misconduct by three Oakland police officers. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) less Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, left, speaks beside Oakland Chief of Police Sean Whent on Friday, May 13, 2016, in Oakland, Calif. An Internal investigation has been launched into alleged sexual misconduct by three ... more Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press Photo: Ben Margot, Associated Press Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close 2nd East Bay police department opens sex misconduct investigation 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

A second police department in the East Bay has opened an investigation into whether its officers broke the law in their dealings with the same young Richmond woman who is at the center of a sexual misconduct scandal at the Oakland Police Department.

Richmond police opened the internal affairs probe last week after receiving information from authorities in Oakland, said Richmond’s assistant police chief, Bisa French. Several police officers who hold positions of rank are being investigated, she said.

“We have opened an internal investigation (into) whether any of the contact with the young lady is criminal or (involves) any policy violations,” French said.

Both the Oakland and Richmond police inquiries focus on an 18-year-old Richmond woman who has said she had sexual relations with numerous officers from the Oakland, Richmond, Livermore and Stockton police departments, and with deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office during her stint as a sex worker.

The woman, who uses the alias Celeste Guap, said some of these encounters occurred when she was underage, according to the East Bay Express, which first revealed the extraordinary scope of the scandal in a report published late Friday — the day after Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent abruptly resigned.

Chief’s departure

Mayor Libby Schaaf told a news conference Friday morning that Whent made the decision to leave, and she deflected questions about whether he was forced out.

Guap has not responded to requests from The Chronicle for comment.

Schaaf has expressed outrage about the allegations in the Oakland Police Department, releasing a statement Saturday saying her administration will seek “the most serious punishment and consequences allowable by law.”

“We continue to be disgusted and outraged by the idea that anyone could abuse an underage victim of sexual exploitation — particularly those who have sworn to uphold the law and protect our communities,” Schaaf wrote. “We are sickened to think anyone could even know of such abuse and not bring that information forward.”

Suicide note

The Oakland misconduct probe stemmed from a suicide note left by Officer Brendan O’Brien, who killed himself in September, more than a year after the June 2014 death of his wife, Irma Huerta Lopez, which was also ruled a suicide. O’Brien’s suicide note has not been publicly released, but several news outlets reported that he confessed to a relationship with Guap and implicated other officers.

In May, four officers were placed on administrative leave, and two of them — Terryl Smith and James Ta’ai — have since resigned. Hours before Whent’s sudden departure, Contra Costa County prosecutors said they did not have enough evidence to charge Smith with forcible sodomy.

With questions building about the integrity of rank-and-file officers and the department’s ability to handle internal discipline, the Alameda County district attorney’s office began its own review of the sexual misconduct case in May. The district attorney also opened a parallel inquiry into the Police Department’s handling of both O’Brien’s and Lopez’s suicides.

Representatives of the Livermore and Stockton police departments, and of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, said they are not conducting internal investigations because no one has made any official complaints against their officers.

Stockton police spokesman Joe Silva said his department had reached out to Oakland, but that he has not received confirmation that any Stockton officers were implicated. Similarly, Livermore Police Lt. John Hurd said his department had “reached out to a variety of places” but found no reason to start an internal probe.

Sheriff’s response

Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern said that upon reviewing the allegations, he didn’t believe his deputies had done anything illegal.

“We had no indication that anybody paid for sex, disclosed (confidential) information, or did any other unlawful activity,” he said.

Meanwhile, this scandal and other misconduct cases have prompted the Oakland City Council’s Public Safety Committee to consider a November ballot measure to create a civilian seven-person Oakland police commission and give it broad powers to discipline officers and terminate the chief.

Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney said that such a commission could help shift the culture at Oakland Police Department, though it wouldn’t be a cure-all.

Oversight alone “can’t change these things,” she said. “It can’t stop a culture of power abuse.”

Whent could not be reached for comment.

Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: rachelswan