Suspended Bay Area cop who shared nude images of wife taken without her knowledge requests mental health diversion

A Napa County sheriff’s deputy wants mental health treatment for conditions that, according to his defense attorney, factored into allegations he surreptitiously took explicit photos of his wife and shared them online.

James Fotherby is expected to return to Napa County Superior Court on March 17, when parties in the case will discuss whether he’s suitable for such diversion, which sidesteps jailtime. If approved, he would receive mental health treatment for up to two years and avoid jail if he completes specified programs and meets other mandated terms and conditions.

In the meantime, Fotherby’s status as a peace officer has been suspended by the county. And a request for a domestic violence restraining order filed in late July and recently obtained by The Press Democrat suggests the violations went much deeper than previously reported.

Fotherby has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanors — charges which were on tap for discussion Tuesday, Feb. 17, before Judge Mark Boessenecker. But the judge rescheduled following the diversion motion filed Feb. 13 by defense attorney Laina Chikhani.

In the motion, Chikhani said a therapist thinks Fotherby suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and sex addiction. Furthermore, according to the motion, Fotherby maintained an amicable relationship with his family for months after the photos were discovered, hasn’t captured any unlawful images since September 2024 and is not a threat to the public.

“Mr. Fotherby has been in therapy for the past 13 months,” Chikhani wrote in the motion. “He has demonstrated significant therapeutic progress, increased insight and consistent engagement in treatment.”

The Press Democrat previously reported Fotherby’s July arrest, and subsequent charges filed by the Napa County District Attorney’s Office for invasion of privacy and distribution of a private image causing emotional distress. If convicted, Fotherby faces maximum punishment of six months in jail for each. The DA’s office included a special enhancement based on the victim’s status as a domestic partner, which would add a probation term of at least three years.

Fotherby has been on paid administrative leave since late July, when his wife reported the alleged crimes to the Napa Police Department. The spouses are now estranged and in the midst of divorce proceedings.

The Sheriff’s Office has an open internal investigation into the incident, according to Henry Wofford, the agency’s public information officer, and has suspended Fotherby’s peace officer powers.

“Not only is Sheriff (Oscar) Ortiz aware of these allegations, he said they’re extremely concerning,” Wofford noted. “And we’re paying close attention.”

The criminal complaint, filed by prosecutors in late September, stated that sometime in 2024, Fotherby “did unlawfully use a concealed camera to secretly videotape, film, photograph, or record by electronic means” the case’s Jane Doe, who was “in a state of full or partial undress … in the interior of a bathroom.”

This was done without the wife’s knowledge or consent, according to the complaint.

As outlined in the restraining order request, filed by Fotherby’s spouse in San Diego County — where she is now living with the couple’s two children — the deputy shared images of his wife “over a period of several years, online and to various friends. These photos include AI-altered images, shower photos … as well as full naked pictures,” according to the restraining order request.

Fotherby admitted to her in texts that he “used Reddit forums to distribute hundreds of images on posts and direct user messages (and exchanges with pictures received from other men) over three years for his arousal and excitement,” she wrote in the restraining order request.

He also sent pictures through Instagram and Telegram, and the wife stated she believed “they are also on porn sites based on images still searchable on Google images.”

She listed several pornographic sites, including Pornhub, the world’s most-visited pornography website.

The wife said she also learned that Fotherby had shared images of her naked body with fellow police officers, including with one specific cop, identified as “Nick” in the restraining order request, “for at least 3 years.”

An attachment to the restraining order request includes a screenshot of a text thread between Fotherby and Nick. The internet handle used by the latter is “whiten44,” an Instagram account that was recently deleted.

“If you look closely, there’s a little bonus hidden in there too,” Fotherby wrote to the recipient identified as Nick, according to a screenshot of the exchange included in the restraining order request, which did not include the image. The deputy added a winking, tongue-out emoji.

“James..” Nick responded. “When do I get to f— your wife?!”

Fotherby hearted the text and wrote back, “Not soon enough!”

Then he asked if Nick had ever masturbated to any of the photos he’d sent his former colleague.

“I haven’t, I am a gentleman,” Nick replied.

“Haha! That is true,” Fotherby wrote. “I wouldn’t mind if you had though.”

It isn’t clear whether the man identified as Nick knew the photos had been obtained illegally, or whether the messages were shared by on-duty law enforcement officers.

After seeing evidence of officers exchanging crude comments about her naked body, the wife said in her request to the court, “I am terrified of being stalked or assaulted.”

In separate text messages between Fotherby and his wife, the deputy admitted to snapping photos of her while she was showering, phone hidden in his hand.

The document also sheds light on another incident first reported by The Press Democrat.

In January 2025, as described in Fotherby’s arrest report, he accidentally distributed a “nude and explicit image” of the wife to their daughter, via an iPhone AirDrop.

According to the wife’s description in the restraining order request, that occurred while Fotherby was upset he wasn’t getting more attention from his spouse.

“He was angry and decided to find and re-download explicit photos he had taken of me and uploaded to various sites,” she wrote in court documents. “While he was doing this, he airdropped one of the photos to our 12-year-old daughter’s phone. This photo was taken of me, without my knowledge or consent, while I was showering in the privacy of our home.”

At the bottom of the image was text reading, “do you want to see photos of my wife, leaked.”

Fotherby had told his wife he was scrubbing the internet of the explicit photos he had taken of her. But he located this image using just a handful of simple words as search terms, according to another text thread between the former couple that was introduced as evidence.

The daughter was traumatized by the incident, the wife wrote.

“She has asked me multiple times if her father has taken photographs of her without her knowledge,” according to the request. “She does not feel comfortable or safe with her father. … I have learned that on June 13, 2025, my therapist made a report to Child Protective Services who currently are actively investigating these allegations.”

The mistaken transmission was purely unintentional, Fotherby argued in an August declaration of opposition to his wife’s request for a restraining order.

“My relationship with my daughter has remained strong,” he added.

Fotherby noted in his declaration that he moved out of the family’s Napa home in November 2024, but was sharing custody on a 50/50 basis before his wife’s move to San Diego. When the children were with the wife, he wrote, he often came over to make dinner and handle bedtime duties, “both on my initiative and at my wife’s request.”

Fotherby insisted he could be trusted as a father and partner.

“I take these proceedings seriously and do not minimize any concerns raised,” he wrote to the judge. “However, I respectfully ask the court to consider the full context of the situation and the steps that I have taken — and continue to take — to address personal challenges and maintain a safe and supportive relationship with my children and family.”

Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to note that Napa County Sheriff’s Office has suspended James Fotherby’s powers as a peace officer.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.