OAKLAND (KRON) — Jasmine Abuslin, the young woman at the center of the sex scandal plaguing several Bay Area law enforcement agencies, is back in Oakland Thursday morning.
The woman, formerly known as Celeste Guap, was released from a Florida jail on Wednesday after accepting a plea deal in an aggravated battery case where she allegedly bit a security guard at a rehab center.
The 19-year-old came back to the Bay Area with Civil Rights attorney Pamela Price who says she wants to help bring justice to her case by holding officers accountable for sex trafficking.
“We intend to hold everyone accountable,” Price said. “She is a victim of child sexual trafficking in the Bay Area.”
Price and attorney Charles Bonner gave a press conference in Oakland Thursday morning. Abuslin was not present but Bonner said she is in a safe place.
Price said Abuslin has been a victim of sex trafficking since she was 12 years old. Price is seeking compensation from each jurisdiction as well as the restoration of Abuslin’s privacy.
“Justice for her…restitution of her privacy, her identity…compensation from each jurisdiction for violating her civil rights…as a citizen of the Bay Area… we want to see our public officials provide transparent leadership…stop trying to cover up the truth. It is unacceptable for law enforce or public officials to engage in this type of action.”
Seven officers from different law enforcements agencies in Alameda County are being charged in the sexual misconduct scandal, according to the Alameda County District Attorney.
Abuslin is a key witness in the criminal case and since she has returned, the Alameda County District Attorney can move forward with filing charges.
Price said that Abuslin is not a drug addict and accused the Richmond Police Department of sending her to the Florida facility under false pretenses, potentially tampering with a witness.
The Richmond Police Department recently announced that they found no criminal violations after an investigation into 11 current and former officers who were allegedly involved with Abuslin.
Bonner and Price believe there are several officers who should also be charged, including officers from Richmond and San Francisco.
The attorneys said they have arranged for Abuslin to get treatment at Stanford University. She will also go back to school and get her GED.
Richmond police, criticized for assisting the woman to enter a drug rehabilitation facility in Florida just before she would be a witness in a criminal prosecution, have said it was her choice to go there and that they only assisted in getting her funds from the state’s Victim Compensation Program.
She was swiftly arrested after arriving at the facility for allegedly assaulting a guard.
Price accused the department of sending her there on purpose, questioning why she didn’t go to a local facility.
“I don’t know what the plan was but it smells, looks and feels like a setup to me,” Price said.
Bonner said Richmond police Sgt. M. Stonebraker of the domestic and sexual violence unit arranged the trip to Florida. He said Richmond police dropped her off at the airport where she flew, alone, to Florida and two other people picked her up and drove her for two hours without speaking to her.
She wasn’t permitted to call her father during that time. While at the facility, under the impression she was there voluntarily, she decided she wanted to leave and was attempting to hitchhike when she was forcibly taken back in and restrained, which is when she allegedly assaulted a guard, according to Bonner.