OAKLAND (KRON) — A former Oakland prostitute, who was also abused by police officers, spoke exclusively to KRON about the current sex scandal plaguing Oakland police.
This case dates back almost 20 years, and the woman proved her case in court and won a settlement.
Now, with the latest scandal, she has decided to speak out to let the public know this has happened to other prostitutes as well.
The details of this case are graphic. The former prostitute tells KRON she is still haunted by what happened to her 16 years ago.
Rory Keller-Dean met KRON’s Alecia Reid at a park because she lives in a warehouse with no windows. She still fears for her life but wanted to speak out, she said.
Rory said the first time she was assaulted by a police officer was back in 1997 when officer Gary Romero took her to an abandoned shed near Coast Guard Island. He and six other officers forced her to perform oral sex on them.
She was warned to never speak of it, she said. She told KRON Romero took advantage of her every chance he got, having multiple sexual encounters in his car, at her home, and in hotels.
He would always take the evidence with him, until one night in Sept. 1999, the 10-year veteran threw the used condom out of his car, and Rory was able to go back and get it, she said.
That was the evidence she used to sue the Oakland police department. She won a $350,000 settlement, and Romero was fired.
Just a year before this all unfolded, Romero was awarded for combating drugs and prostitution in Oakland, Dean said.
“He kept trying to convince me that I was his possession,” Keller-Dean said. “If I got arrested on a prostitution case, he’d come up to them, look at me, and wink, and then I go down to county jail, and they let me out the back door. They dismiss it. The fear that he was pumping in me…I was scared to death.”
“It was like a control factor that they take that badge to another level,” she added. “It’s like they’re untouchable. You could go through years of psychotherapy, and it still won’t change what happened to you. And I have been. At this point, I’ve been through anger management because I’m so angry.”
There was a gag order after the case was settled, so Rory was not allowed to speak about it to anyone. Now that the gag order has expired, she is sharing her story.
Now that the gag order has expired, she is sharing her story.KRON’s Vince Cestone contributed to this report.