AUBURN, Calif. (AP) -- A former Yuba County social worker has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison for trying to extort money from a man whom she falsely informed was the subject of a child molestation probe.

A Placer County jury convicted Yolanda Fryson last month of 16 felonies, including attempted extortion and bribery.

Authorities say Fryson, who worked at Child Protective Services, told a Roseville man in 2008 that he was under investigation for molestation and could make the case go away if he paid her $10,000.

The man went to authorities, who conducted a sting operation.

Judge Joe O'Flaherty told the 43-year-old Fryson during her sentencing Wednesday that her crime was, from a moral standpoint, close to the worst he had seen during his 21 years on the bench.