Benjamin Yarbrough

Introduction

Benjamin Yarbrough is a 48-year-old former Hayward, California police officer who was charged in March 2026 with one felony count of accepting a bribe after prosecutors alleged he took $1,000 and free sexual services in exchange for protecting an illegal brothel in downtown Hayward. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said its complaint alleges Yarbrough “unlawfully and knowingly accepted $1,000 and free access to sex workers,” accusations that surfaced during a broader San Jose Police Department investigation into prostitution. His case is now on hold in a mental health diversion program that could end with the charge dismissed entirely, a possibility that drew fresh national attention when the New York Post revisited it in September 2026.

Background Information

Yarbrough joined the Hayward Police Department in 2014 and spent roughly a decade with the agency before the case broke. The accusations trace to a 2025 San Jose police investigation into a residential brothel operating under the name Hestia ACU Wellness, in which Yanqiong Xiong, 40, was charged by Santa Clara County prosecutors with pimping, and later with pimping and pandering, alongside Guijun Zhao, 45; that operation ultimately saw 74 arrests and 88 survivors rescued. Investigators seized 11 cellphones in that case and found numbers linked to other suspected brothels, including one in downtown Hayward near Main and Warren streets operating as Flame ACU Wellness. A forensic review of the phones revealed communications between Yarbrough and Xiong, and Yarbrough’s wife is the sister of Hayward Police Chief Bryan Matthews — a family connection that shaped how the case was handled from the start.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from Alameda County prosecutors’ court filings and an investigator’s probable-cause declaration, as described in news reports. Yarbrough has been charged but never tried, and a charge is not a conviction; he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. He denies taking money, knowing Xiong, having sex with anyone at the brothel, or providing protection to anyone.

Prosecutors allege that between March 12 and April 1, 2025, Yarbrough used both his personal and police-issued cellphones to arrange sexual encounters at the Flame ACU Wellness brothel in downtown Hayward and to accept a $1,000 payment, in exchange for protecting the business by warning of law enforcement activity and monitoring competitors. Court documents filed by the District Attorney’s Office say he allegedly asked what type of prostitutes were available, described himself as a friend to Xiong and the sex trafficking operation, and said he could “work out details” to keep the sex workers safe.

One message recovered by investigators read, “I don’t bust, I protect and keep safe,” and a probable-cause declaration stated that “Officer Yarbrough’s actions appeared to act in support of the trafficking operation and to disrupt competing illicit businesses.” Surveillance photos, according to prosecutors, show him at the brothel location at dates and times matching the text messages. Xiong told investigators she gave Yarbrough ten $100 bills in a red envelope, and provided the cash and access to sex workers so that he would not “bust” her; she also identified Yarbrough in a photo and gave a statement consistent with the messages.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The consequences began before the charge. After San Jose investigators alerted Hayward police in July 2025, Chief Bryan Matthews said he immediately contacted Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson and asked her office to run the criminal investigation “because of my familial relationship with Officer Yarbrough,” and placed him on paid administrative leave pending both the DA’s case and an Internal Affairs review of possible policy violations. “Any criminal conduct on the part of any Hayward Police Department employee will not be tolerated regardless of any personal relationships that may exist,” Matthews said, adding that the allegations, “if proven to be true, strike at the core of who we are as a profession.” Yarbrough was charged on March 18, 2026, while still an officer, with a felony carrying up to four years in prison if convicted. The story drew renewed attention in September 2026 when the New York Post framed the diversion placement as the accused officer possibly walking free.

Current Status

Yarbrough is no longer with the Hayward Police Department and has surrendered his law-enforcement certification, according to KTVU. His criminal case is on hold: a judge placed him in California’s Pretrial Mental Health Diversion program, which pauses criminal proceedings so a defendant diagnosed with a mental health disorder can receive treatment instead of jail time, and the charge could be completely dismissed if he completes his therapy and follows his treatment plan. No trial date exists while diversion runs, and no conviction has been entered.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Whatever the criminal case’s outcome, Yarbrough’s policing career is over in practical terms: he left the department he joined in 2014 and gave up his law-enforcement certification, which bars him from serving as a California peace officer even if the felony charge is eventually dismissed. A conviction would have carried up to four years in prison; dismissal through diversion would leave him with no criminal record from the case, an outcome critics of the mental health diversion law have seized on in coverage of the case. The brothel operators at the center of the underlying investigation, Xiong and Zhao, face their own prosecution for running the operations, separate from Yarbrough’s diverted case.