Police lieutenant’s firing in 2016 sex exploitation scandal is upheld by judges

A panel of judges has upheld the firing of Richmond police Lt. Andre Hill, who was one of several officers disciplined in a 2016 sexual exploitation scandal involving multiple East Bay police agencies.

In a decision on June 30, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District panel, concluded the termination of Hill was “harsh” but “within the range of reasonable discipline.”

Former Richmond City Manager Bill Lindsay fired the 22-year Richmond officer in 2017, finding that Hill took advantage of his “inherently unequal bargaining power” over a troubled 18-year-old. At the time, Hill was a lieutenant in the Youth Services Division, working with at-risk Richmond youth, as well as a police department spokesman.

Former Police Chief Allwyn Brown had recommended a 120-day suspension, and former Richmond Fire Chief Adrian Sheppard, acting as a discipline hearing officer, proposed demoting Hill two ranks to officer, but Lindsay called the punishments “insufficient to address the very serious and inappropriate behavior.” Hill appealed the termination all the way to the state appellate court level.

In March 2016, Hill while off duty engaged in oral sex with the 18-yearold, who went by the name Celeste Guap. Over several months, he exchanged 324 text messages with her, including messages in which she told the lieutenant she had been kidnapped three times in four years, a Richmond internal affairs investigation found.

Investigators found no evidence Hill knew she had worked as a sex worker, or that he exchanged money or confidential police information for sex.

Judge Kathleen M. Banke wrote in the June 30 ruling that “police officers have privacy and associational rights with respect to intimate and sexual off-duty relationships. Nevertheless, law enforcement officers may be disciplined for off-duty misconduct that undermines the public’s confidence in the agency or department.”

“We recognize that Hill’s conduct did not involve any dishonesty and was not as egregious as the conduct in many law enforcement discharge cases,” Banke wrote. “We also recognize Hill had an unblemished 22-year service record, that his conduct was not unlawful, that it involved only sporadic conduct over a fourmonth period …. but we are not ‘free to substitute (our) discretion for that of the administrative agency concerning the degree of punishment imposed.’”

Hill’s attorney, Michael Rains, on Monday said he was “shocked” and “disappointed” with the decision.

“I understand that society today wants the onduty behavior of police officers to be scrutinized very carefully by their employers, by the courts. I get it and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Rains said. But he noted that Hill did not have any on-duty problems in his two decades with Richmond police. “There was no criminal behavior. Here we are legislating morality for off-duty police officers and I think it’s gone too far now. I take extreme exception with the court’s decision making in this case.”

Hill was the highestranking police officer disciplined in a scandal that stretched from police departments in Oakland and Livermore to the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office. The fallout led to the resignation of Oakland police Chief Sean Whent, and criminal charges filed in Alameda County against a handful of officers. Guap, the daughter of a police dispatcher, said she had sexual encounters with about 30 officers, some while she was underage and others in exchange for confidential police information.

In Richmond, 11 officers were investigated, and nine, including Hill, received discipline ranging from written reprimands to firings.