By Canadian Press

Retired Oakland police captain to be charged in sex probe

Nov 4, 2016 | 2:30 AM

MARTINEZ, Calif. — A Northern California prosecutor said Friday that he’s charging a retired police captain with misdemeanour soliciting a prostitute, but found no other criminal conduct within his jurisdiction in a wide-ranging police sexual misconduct case involving more than two dozen officers.

Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson said that sexual encounters between a teenage prostitute and several officers in his county were consensual and didn’t involve the exchange of money or explicit promises of help.

The district attorney in neighbouring Alameda County last month said she would charge seven current and former officers implicated in the scandal and said there appeared to be evidence of criminal conduct in Contra Costa County. But on Friday, Peterson said none was found after reviewing 19 separate interviews of the teen conducted by six law enforcement agencies.

Peterson declined to name the retired Oakland Police captain until the man is formally charged next week. Peterson said the man is in his 80s and had retired long before his encounter with the teen, who is the daughter of an Oakland Police dispatcher.

The 19-year-old woman has filed legal actions against several Northern California cities and police departments, saying she was sexually exploited by more than two dozen officers while she worked as a prostitute. The cities have yet to respond to the claims, which are precursors to lawsuits.

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The woman’s allegation has roiled the Oakland Police Department, which cycled through three police chiefs in under two weeks before the city administrator took over leadership of the department when the scandal surfaced publicly in June. The scandal surfaced after a federal judge who monitors the long-troubled department ordered internal affairs to look deeper into an officer’s suicide note in which he discussed his and colleagues’ relationship with the woman. The officer killed himself in September 2015.

The woman says she is no longer a prostitute and says some of the sex occurred before her 18th birthday. She also said she traded sexual favours for tip-offs of prostitution stings and protection from arrest.

Peterson said one encounter between the teen and a former Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy may have occurred when the woman was 17 years old. But Peterson said it would be difficult to win a conviction because the deputy’s argument that he thought she was older is a “complete defence.”

The Associated Press doesn’t generally name victims of sexual crimes.

The Alameda County district attorney last month said some current and former officers will be charged with crimes, including two officers facing counts of having sex with an underage person.

In addition, the San Francisco and San Joaquin district attorneys are investigating incidents the woman said occurred in those counties.

Several officers implicated in the scandal have either quit are being fired and a handful have been temporarily suspended without pay or received formal reprimands.

Paul Elias, The Associated Press