Contra Costa Deputy Resigns Amid Growing Sexual Misconduct Scandal

A Contra Costa sheriff's deputy, who allegedly had sex with an exploited minor at the center of broader sexual abuse allegations in multiple Bay Area law enforcement agencies, resigned Thursday, according to a statement from a sheriff's office spokesman.

Former deputy Ricardo Perez remains a subject of an Oakland Police Department criminal investigation, the statement says.

The woman at the center of multiple criminal and administrative probes into police officers, sheriff deputies and investigators' relationships with her while she was either underage or working in the sex trade told SFGate she had sex with Perez "several times last summer when she was 17 years old."

“We earn the public trust through honesty, transparency and accountability," Contra Costa Sheriff David Livingston said in a written statement, which noted Perez was one of more than a thousand employees of the Sheriff's Office. "We will not tolerate even a single breach of the public trust we work so hard to earn.”

The woman, who goes by the alias Celeste Guap, has said she had sex with dozens of law enforcement officers from agencies throughout the East Bay and in San Francisco. She says she first exchanged sex for money when 12 years old and was trafficked on the streets of Richmond and Oakland by age 14, according to SFGate.

Guap has not responded to KQED's requests to speak with her.

The largest group of officers who allegedly exploited her and may have leaked her confidential information about police raids worked for the Oakland Police Department.

Three OPD officers were placed on leave and two have resigned as multiple investigations continue into officers' contact with Guap. Former Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent's sudden resignation amid the growing scandal prompted a quick succession of department heads this month, with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf finally deciding to place the department under control of City Administrator Sabrina Landreth.

At least 14 OPD officers exploited Guap, according to the East Bay Express, which has led reporting on rapidly expanding allegations that could amount to crimes of statutory rape and human trafficking on the part of officers at multiple agencies.

It includes an officer who committed suicide last September, whose wife died in 2014 under suspicious circumstances. Her death was eventually ruled a suicide.

It includes a retired OPD captain who became an Alameda County district attorney's inspector and Alameda County sheriff's deputies. It includes a federal employee who guarded a facility in San Joaquin County. It includes at least five Richmond police officers, some of whom were reportedly assigned to Guap's high school or worked as school resource officers.

Guap says she also had sex with three SFPD officers after she turned 18, according to multiple news reports.

Several law enforcement agencies are conducting ongoing internal investigations. The Alameda County Sheriff's Office quickly closed its probe, clearing deputies of any wrongdoing.

The Alameda County District Attorney's Office is conducting a "parallel and independent" investigation with OPD, according to statements by Schaaf. Oakland has also retained an independent investigator to review OPD internal affairs investigations.

State Attorney General Kamala Harris said Tuesday her office will investigate if separate probes by district attorneys for Alameda and Contra Costa counties don't move forward.