A declared Turlock City Council candidate and a substitute teacher suing her for defamation were in court Friday for the latest development in their legal fight.

Kelley Coelho had requested a restraining order on behalf of her daughter against Vance Yarborough, who Coelho claims assaulted the girl during his teaching assignment on Oct. 22 at Turlock Junior High School.

Yarborough has denied the allegation — investigations by the Turlock Police Department, TJHS and Turlock Unified School District found no wrongdoing — and filed a lawsuit Dec. 4 against Coelho for defamation.

The sides met Friday in the Stanislaus County courtroom of Judge John R. Mayne. Yarbrough was represented by Valley-based attorney Dustin Dyer, while Coelho had no legal representation. 

Mayne heard from Coelho’s daughter, Faith Solis, who tearfully told the judge her side of what happened last October. Mayne then had just two questions for the girl.

“Has Mr. Yarbrough made any other attempts to contact you?” the judge asked.

“No,” Solis replied.

“Is there any reason why I should think he would try to contact you?”

Again, Solis said no.

Mayne dismissed the case with prejudice.

“One of the things I’m required to find is whether the conduct is likely to happen again,” said Mayne. “Even if the conduct is very severe, I have to make a determination whether the conduct is likely to reoccur to issue an order. … Based on what you’ve told me, I’m just not able to do that.”

At one point during her testimony, Solis mentioned TPD Officer Juan Arroyo, who investigated the incident. Mayne quickly informed both parties that he and Arroyo had been Facebook friends.

“I don’t know if I am now, but at one time I was Facebook friends with Officer Arroyo because I prosecuted a case in which he was very severely injured,” said Mayne. “But I have no social relationship with him and I haven’t talked to him in a decade, I think.”

Coelho, a private investigator and U.S. Army veteran who is seeking the District 1 city council seat, later posted about the relationship on her B&C Investigations Facebook page.

“STANISLAUS COUNTY COURT CORRUPTION!” the post read. “Stay tuned guys, this is just the beginning.”

Coelho has levied similar allegations of corruption against TUSD, TPD, Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laugero, Superior Court Judge Carrie M. Stephens and state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, who she is suing for an alleged violation of her First Amendment rights.

Though Yarbrough has had no contact with Solis since October, Coelho alleged the harassment came in the form of his “liking and commenting” on social media posts. 

“There were a lot  Facebook messages that were not included from the Save Turlock page that I will be adding to the case file for future consideration,” said Coelho, who admitted that Yarbrough was not the originator of any of those messages.

“Unless (Yarbrough) makes further contact, there’s not another case here, ma’am,” the judge said. “Do not refile.”

Coelho produced a thick stack of papers containing the posts for Mayne to read. He determined much of what he saw was protected political speech by others, directed at Coelho.

“You’re not really a target of the thing, the target is your mom,” Mayne told the girl. “And that might not feel very nice, but that’s just what happens.”

According to court documents, Yarbrough sought to have Coelho’s daughter removed from class on Oct. 22 for being disruptive during a half-day teaching assignment at TJHS. When she attempted to leave the classroom before campus security had arrived, Yarbrough blocked the doorway and told the girl she needed to remain in the class. The student alleged that Yarbrough grabbed her around the chest and waist and refused to let her go.

TPD viewed security camera footage and determined that no crime had been committed. Since the incident, however, Coelho has claimed that Turlock PD and the Turlock Unified School District have colluded to cover up the incident.

“We’re not basing our lawsuit on the fact that Faith made a complaint, and we’re not basing it on the fact there was an investigation,” said Dyer. “We’re basing it on the fact that they knew the falsity of it and then continued to post about it on social media.”