Prosecution of a former Napa County Sheriff’s deputy for distributing nude pictures of a woman has been paused after he asserted mental health issues including sex addiction and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Visiting Napa County Superior Court Judge Julie M. Conger granted a request for mental health diversion to former deputy James Robert Fotherby, 44, of Napa, over the objections of prosecutors.

The court placed Fotherby on mental health diversion for one year “which essentially pauses the criminal case,” the Napa County District Attorney’s Office said Friday. “If he successfully completes mental health diversion, the charges are dismissed by the court.”

Fotherby was charged with invasion of privacy and distribution of intimate images, both misdemeanors, and a special allegation that would require a minimum of three years’ probation upon conviction, prosecutors said.

“These charges stem from alleged conduct occurring between 2023 and 2025, where Fotherby surreptitiously recorded the victim in the shower and distributed explicit nude images of her to other men on the internet without her knowledge or permission,” District Attorney Allison Haley said in a statement.

Mental health diversion

Fotherby pursued mental health diversion citing diagnoses of sex addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, prosecutors said.

The District Attorney’s Office said Fotherby’s attorney attributed the PTSD diagnosis to “developmental and occupational experiences,” without providing details.

Until 2023, state law required defendants to show a connection between their disorder and the alleged conduct. That is no longer the case, unless a prosecutor can provide clear evidence to the contrary, the District Attorney’s Office said.

Conger ruled that Fotherby was the type of defendant the Legislature intended to serve through the mental health diversion law, prosecutors said.

He was ordered to continue mental health treatment, banned from viewing or possessing pornography, and ordered to pay restitution to his victim, which includes helping to remove any remaining nude images from the internet.