Former Sylvester fire chief arrested on rape charges

SYLVESTER — Former Sylvester Fire Chief Jody Yarbrough has been arrested on rape-related charges, according to Ronnie Graddy, investigator with the Sylvester Police Department.

Graddy said a special presentment of evidence was put before the Worth County Grand jury Wednesday morning following an investigation that has been under way for several months.

Yarbrough, 44, was indicted on three counts of aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery, rape and false imprisonment, said Graddy, who noted that Yarbrough was taken into custody Wednesday following the indictment. Graddy said the investigation was prompted by a complaint from an unnamed female.

Yarbrough served as chief of the Sylvester Fire Department for about three years, Graddy said, before resigning the position in 2012.

Yarbrough is the second Sylvester fire chief to be charged with criminal activity in barely a month. On Feb. 11, then Fire Chief Chris Duncan was arrested by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and charged with theft by extortion involving the city of Sylvester. According to a media release, Duncan’s arrest followed a GBI investigation requested by Tift Judicial Circuit District Attorney Paul Bowden.