Former Hayward cop accused of accepting $1,000 bribe and sexual services admitted into mental health diversion

A former Hayward police officer accused of using accepting a $1,000 bribe and free sex from a brothel could see his felony case dismissed after a judge on Tuesday granted him admission into a mental health diversion program.

Benjamin Yarbrough, 49, was allowed into the program by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Elisa Della-Piana, who opened the possibility his case could get tossed in two years if the former officer follows through on court-monitored treatment and avoids further arrests.

The ruling came just minutes after the judge denied another law enforcement officer — San Mateo County sheriff’s deputy Steven Romero — admission into the same program, amid concerns that Romero hadn’t fully qualified for it. The deputy faces a felony charge of corporal injury to a child amid allegations he choked his son and dragged the boy by his ear for taking too long to eat breakfast.

In Yarbrough’s case, the judge said she was “confident” the former officer met criteria for the program. That was despite concerns by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office that the state statute for such diversion programs didn’t intend for it to cater to defendants facing such bribery charges.

Authorities suspect Yarbrough received a sexual service and took $1,000 as a bribe in April 2025 while extorting a woman accused of running a brothel. The bribe came “with the implied threat of arrest,” by Yarbrough, “or as payment to influence his present or prospective official duties as a police officer in ways such as providing protection, investigating competitors or providing intelligence about law enforcement activity,” according to court records.

San Jose police arrested the woman in May 2025, after which authorities realized that Yarbrough had been in frequent contact with her.

Texts obtained by investigators showed Yarbrough offered to be a friendly police officer to the woman and her brothel — telling her in one text that “I don’t bust I protect and keep safe,” records show. In the process, Yarbourgh allegedly asked what type of women were available, to which the woman replied that he could have sex with a worker and “take $1,000,” the records claim.

The woman later told investigators she paid the then-officer with ten $100 bills in a red envelope and arranged the sexual encounter so he “would not ‘bust’ her,” the records show.

No mental health diagnosis was aired in court Tuesday, and the petition by Yarbrough’s attorney for placement in the program has not been made public.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Judge Della-Piana ordered the former officer to continue his weekly therapy appointments and to attend at least two group meetings a week. The judge also asked if Yarbrough would be willing to share monthly updates on what he had been learning in treatment, as well as if he would write “reflections” every six months, to which Yarbrough replied: “Absolutely.”

Yarbrough’s attorney also said he had already relinquished his state peace officer certification as “a good faith overture.” Such a move is permanent and bars bar him from ever working as a police officer in the state again.

After the hearing, Yarbourgh’s attorney hit back on prosecutors’ claims the officer didn’t belong in mental health diversion.

“Mr. Yarbrough has taken tremendous effort to ensure that he can get his arms around what got him here,” said the attorney, Julia Fox.

Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at [email protected].