Hayward, California police officer Benjamin Yarbrough was charged in March with taking $1,000 and free sex from an illegal brothel in exchange for protecting it. This week, reports on September 16 say, a judge granted him entry into California’s mental health diversion program over the district attorney’s objection. If he completes the treatment plan, the felony bribery charge can be dismissed outright: no conviction, no prison, no record.
Where This Stands Right Now
- Alameda County prosecutors charged Yarbrough with one felony count of accepting a bribe; he pleaded not guilty in March.
- Prosecutors say he took $1,000 and sexual services from the brothel’s operators in return for protection.
- A judge has now placed him in mental health diversion despite the DA’s objection; the case is paused while he is in treatment.
- Finish the program and the charge can be dismissed. Fail it and prosecutors can restart the felony case.
What The Law Lets A Judge Do
California’s pretrial mental health diversion law lets a judge pause a criminal case while a defendant completes court-ordered treatment. To qualify, an expert has to tie a diagnosed mental disorder to the alleged conduct and say treatment would help; the judge has to find the defendant does not pose an unreasonable risk to public safety and that treatment is available. A handful of diagnoses are excluded, but most are eligible if those tests are met. The statute was written for people whose illness put them in front of a judge. Critics say it was not written for an officer accused of selling his badge.
That is the fight here. The district attorney’s office objected to diversion and lost. Yarbrough’s attorney has framed the move as part of a personal turnaround. The public record does not yet include the diagnosis, the expert report or the treatment plan, so what the judge relied on is not visible from outside the courtroom.
What Prosecutors Say He Did
The case surfaced during a wider prostitution investigation in the South Bay, which is how investigators say they connected an illegal brothel to a Hayward officer. Prosecutors allege he accepted cash and free access to the women working there and, in return, gave the operation protection. Early coverage described potential prison time if he were convicted, the standard warning in a felony bribery case. Diversion changes that arithmetic entirely.
The contrast that has people angry is not hypothetical. Federal prosecutors in the same region sent a corrupt Bay Area officer to prison for fifteen months in the “dirty DUI” extortion case. Supporters of diversion argue treatment cuts reoffending and that the statute is doing what it was designed to do; critics answer that dismissing a public-trust crime removes the deterrent for the next officer tempted the same way.
What Happens Next
Compliance hearings decide the outcome. If Yarbrough completes every term, the law allows dismissal. If he fails, the district attorney can resume the original felony charge. Watch for any challenge from the DA’s office, for filings that disclose the diagnosis behind the ruling, and for whether the court tightens or loosens the treatment plan. Until those documents surface, the public is left with a charge, an objection, and a door that a judge opened.
Sources:
nypost.com, sfist.com, justice.gov, oag.ca.gov
