Teen sues Bay Area police over sex scandal

SAN FRANCISCO - The teenage daughter of a police dispatcher at the center of a Northern California sexual misconduct scandal involving two dozen officers has filed a lawsuit against one of the law enforcement agencies, her attorney announced Friday.

The 19-year-old filed the federal lawsuit in San Francisco Thursday.

She alleges that she had sexual encounters with four Richmond Police officers in exchange for protection from arrest and tipoffs to prostitution operations. She also alleges a fifth officer fondled her. Several officers face criminal charges.

The Associated Press generally doesn't identify victims of sex crimes.

The lawsuit alleges that the officers sexually exploited her instead of offering her help to quit the sex trade.

Richmond police spokesman Lt. Felix Tan didn't respond to an email inquiry Friday. In October, Richmond city manager Bill Lindsay announced the city was seeking to fire four of the officers implicated in the scandal. Five others were disciplined.

Her attorney, John Burris, said the officers acted like "immoral frat boys" rather than helping a troubled teenager escape prostitution.

The woman's claims that she had sexual relations with two dozen officers caused upheaval at several law enforcement agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent was forced to resign in June 2016 and the department cycled through two other chiefs in less than a month before the city's top administrator took over management of the police. Oakland hired a full-time chief in January.

The city paid the teen nearly $1 million to settle claims that officers in that department also sexually exploited the woman.

A court-appointed investigator concluded earlier this year that Whent downplayed the woman's allegations and the department failed to properly investigate her claims.