By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com
A former Yuba County Child Protective Services worker who falsely accused a Placer County man of child molestation in an extortion attempt has been sentenced to prison.
Yolanda Perez Fryson (left), 43, of Rocklin was found guilty of extortion, forgery and fraud during a jury trial.
On Wednesday, Placer Superior Court Judge Joseph O'Flaherty, sentenced her to nine years and four months in prison, calling her extortion attempt "close to the worst crime I've seen in my 21 years on the bench."
The victim, a 40-year-old Roseville man, attended the sentencing and fought back tears as he told the court how being falsely accused of child molestation had turned his world upside down, according to a Placer County District Attorney's Office news release.
The release gave this account:
The man said he spent "three days of hell" wondering what to do and kept imagining being led away in handcuffs by police or having people point to him in the false belief that he was a child molester. The man said he briefly contemplated suicide.
The man eventually told an attorney about Fryson's accusation. The attorney referred him to the Placer County Sheriff's Office, which set up a sting operation in which the victim met with Fryson in a parking lot to hand over $10,000 in exchange for dropping the alleged molestation issue.
Fryson was immediately arrested when she accepted the money.
At the time, Fryson was on administrative leave from the Yuba County Child Protective Services Office because of an arrest for a check kiting scheme, in which a person deposits worthless checks into bank accounts and quickly withdraws money before the insufficient funds can be confirmed, the release states.
During the extortion attempt on the Roseville man, Fryson, who was on leave from her job and out on bail for the check fraud charge, displayed her CPS badge, which she had previously reported lost or stolen.
Prosecutor Stephanie Macumber of the Placer County District Attorney's Office said Fryson continued to commit crimes even after the extortion and check kiting incidents. Again out on bail and attempting to get out of the check fraud charges, Fryson forged a letter absolving her of wrongdoing and signed the name of a 29-year bank employee, Macumber said.
Fryson also pressured at least two other bank employees to write letters stating that the overdrafts were bank errors and not her fault, Macumber said.
Fryson's trial on 16 felony counts took place in October. The jury on Nov. 1 returned guilty verdicts on all counts, including attempted extortion, check fraud, falsifying evidence, forgery and accepting a bribe.
Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.
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