Man arrested on statutory rape complaint

By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

EDMOND, Okla. -- An Edmond man is in jail after allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old high school student, police said.

Charles Yarbrough, 43, was arrested on two complaints of statutory rape. Authorities said he met the girl last summer and began a sexual relationship with her.

Yarbrough said the victim told him she was 18 years old, according to a police report. After several months of communication, officers said the victim left her Edmond North High School Campus and met Yarbrough at an apartment complex where he picked her up and took her to his girlfriend's apartment.

"He knew that she went to high school," Police spokeswoman Glynda Chu said. "He knew that she didn't even drive, and so he had to know that she was very, very young."

Authorities said Yarbrough took the victim back to campus and one day later her mother confronted her about skipping school. That's when she told her mother everything and her mother called police.

"By the description of the apartment, the mom was able to pretty much figure out where it had happened and were able to go to that apartment, find out who lived there and who this man is," Chu said.

Yarbrough was brought in for questioning and he admitted giving the victim his phone number and having sex with her, although he said she was a willing participant, Chu said.

"Certainly at 14 and he's 43, the law overrules all of that and he can't do that," she said.