Ex-Oakland captain charged with soliciting woman

(KTVU) Oakland -  

Al Perrodin, 81, was a respected member of the Oakland Police Department who headed the homicide unit in the 1980s.

On Wednesday, Contra Costa County prosecutors charged the retired captain with a misdemeanor of soliciting a prostitute. The DA says he paid the woman formerly known as Celeste Guap for sex at a Richmond hotel.

Authorities say the incident happened in February, when she was 18. The woman, who now goes by her real name of Jasmine Abuslin, is the daughter of an Oakland police dispatcher.

"She confirmed it in an interview with us that that did occur in Contra Costa County," District Attorney Mark Peterson said Thursday. "We contacted that individual, and he admitted that that occurred."

On Wednesday, KTVU crime reporter Henry Lee visited Perrodin at his home in the East Bay. The octogenarian retired in 1996 and collects a pension of more than $120,000 a year. 

Perrodin denied that he had admitted any wrongdoing to investigators. He told me, "I don't know where he got that from."

The retired captain declined further comment, saying KTVU would have to talk to his lawyer. The attorney has not yet responded. 

DA inspectors said they reviewed text and Facebook messages between Abuslin and Perrodin. They also reviewed hotel records and interviewed witnesses.

Abuslin's attorney John Burris says the DA shouldn't have bothered with the case.

"Iit just seems having the case against him who, as a senior citizen, is a complete waste of time and does not serve the interest of justice," Burris said.

Last week, Peterson said he would not be filing charges against Oakland, Richmond, and San Francisco police officers, nor Alameda and Contra Costa sheriff's deputies accused of sexual misconduct with Abuslin. Peterson said Abuslin was 18, consented to the activity and didn't get paid.