The Alameda County District Attorney's Office said late Wednesday one of its investigators has been placed on administrative leave in connection to a sex scandal that has rocked multiple agencies in the Bay Area.
The investigator, identified by the DA's Office as Rick Orozco, is also a former Oakland Police Department commander.
The woman at the center of the scandal, 18-year-old Celeste Guap, showed NBC Bay Area a text that she says comes from Orozco that has some sexual innuendo sent to her in December 2015. Guap also said Orozco asked her to dinner when she was 17, but she never went.
Alameda County DA Nancy O'Malley did not specify why an investigator had been placed on leave, but said in a statement that "we do not and will not turn a blind eye to human trafficking or the sexual exploitation of a minor, whether the offender is a civilian or law enforcement officer." O'Malley did not mention Orozco by name.
The late Wednesday announcement comes a day after Richmond police said its department has opened an investigation into the growing sex scandal centered around Guap, who has alleged to NBC Bay Area that she's had sex with 28 police officers across multiple agencies.
Capt. Bisa French said police "recently opened an internal investigation after learning about the connection of the young lady at the center of the Oakland investigation and several of our officers." French said detectives had not yet interviewed the woman known by her fake name as Celeste Guap, but they were hoping to sometime this week.
So far Oakland police, the Alameda County Sheriff and the District Attorney are investigating her claims: That she had sex with officers, sometimes in exchange for money and sometimes in exchange for information related to prostitution sweeps, so that she could avoid arrests.
As of Wednesday, five Oakland officers have been placed on leave stemming from her allegations.
Interim Police Chief Ben Fairow was also immediately removed from his post Wednesday by Mayor Libby Schaaf. The mayor at a news conference did not give any indication Fairow is tied to the sex scandal.
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Fairow's removal from the Oakland Police Department comes less than a week after he was tapped to replace Chief Sean Whent, who suddenly resigned over what Schaaf called "personal reasons."
Meanwhile, at least one Contra Costa County sheriff's deputy was also placed on leave following claims he had sex with the teen when she was a minor, the department said.
Guap told NBC Bay Area that she's had sex with officers from the Richmond Police Department, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, as well as a Livermore police officer, some in San Francisco, and a law enforcement worker based in Stockton. In all, she said she's had sex with 28 law enforcement officers throughout the Bay Area. Guap also told NBC Bay Area she befriended Whent's wife on Facebook and told her that she was dating an Oakland police officer when she was just 17.
