Christopher Hooker, Ex-teacher Who Left Family For 18 Year Old, Arrested On Sex Abuse Charges

MODESTO, Calif. — A former California teacher who made national headlines when he left his job and family to move in with an 18-year-old student was arrested Friday on suspicion of sexually abusing a different student more than a decade ago, police said.

Christopher Hooker, 41, was arrested at his home and booked in Stanislaus County Jail on one count of oral copulation with a minor.

Police said the abuse occurred with a 17-year-old girl in 1998 when Hooker was a teacher at Davis High School in Modesto. The girl was a student at a different school, police said.

In a statement, police said Hooker befriended the 17-year-old. The department did not immediately return a call seeking clarification of how the two met.

Hooker appeared in court Friday. A judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf, set his bail at $50,000 and assigned him a public defender, the Modesto Bee reported (). http://bit.ly/HooJV2

Hooker requested that his bail amount be reduced, and the judge set a hearing for Tuesday to consider the matter.

Police said the investigation started after Hooker announced his relationship in February with Jordan Powers, whom he taught at Enochs High School in Modesto.

Hooker has three children, including one who was a junior at Enochs.

The underage victim was discovered in the course of that investigation, police said.

Appearing on numerous national talk shows and in news interviews, Hooker and Powers maintained they didn't have a sexual relationship until she turned 18, but police are still investigating whether there was inappropriate contact before that.

In interviews for the "Dr. Phil" show and ABC's "Good Morning America," the couple can be seen holding hands and exchanging smiles.

Powers' mother, Tammie, confronted the couple on "Dr. Phil" and accused Hooker of brainwashing her daughter.

The couple maintains that, while they met when Jordan was 14, their relationship did not become physical until she was of age, making it permissible under current laws. California's age of consent is 18.

The Modesto Bee reported that Tammie Powers sent a text message to one of the newspaper's reporters Friday saying she and her daughter were catching a flight to an undisclosed location.

In response to the relationship between Hooker and Jordan Powers, a state lawmaker from Modesto last week proposed legislation that would ban student-teacher relationships regardless of age, even if the student is 18, and strip school employees of their pensions and retiree health care if they are convicted.

Republican Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen said her bill would prevent teachers from grooming students for relationships once they became adults. The bill would also forbid suggestive communication such as sexual text messages.

From our partners

• 6 People Saved By Their Enemies - www.cracked.com
• 25 Crazy Celebrity Workouts And Diets - Guyism.com
• Experts: Decriminalize ALL Drugs! - Newser.com

Comments

[sensimilla]

03:59 PM on 04/16/2012

Thats what we need, more laws. Maybe they should just have teachers teach virtually, then no hugs are needed!

[remogul65]

08:12 AM on 04/12/2012

Told ya...these kind of people need to be separated from all societies. They are a danger to all of our children.

[cmeesew]

02:51 AM on 04/12/2012

hello?

[cmeesew]

02:43 AM on 04/12/2012

REALLY, THIS IS NOT THE 40's or even the Free Spirited 60's when the laws were made. WAKE UP! These teenagers see, hear and live knowing they need streetsmarts. They are not young, innocent babies. Give everyone a break and go after the theives, men abusing their wifes/girlfriends/children, or the heavily tatooed known violent Gang member!!
Once someone says, "Sex offender" that's it!! bu*l Sh*t!
So many of these adult with teenager cases are MOTIVATED BY MONEY/GREED, so don't throw the key and ruin someone's life if they are not real "PREDITORS"!
EVERYONE, PLEASE go to www.BrianBanks.org and listen to his story aired on Channel Two news. The First Sex Offender Case "California Project Innocence has taken on and in May, a verdict of this horrible story of an innocent teenager losing years of his life and reputation, locked up, Brian will hopefully be exhonerated! It's about the Governor starts signing and clearing names off the Sex offender Registry that don't belong there and let them move on to be productive human beings, not caged animals! I know Brian could use donations to get his production/story made, and Project Innocence for their hard work, but, if nothing else, just listen to his story and pray he gets to play Football again, with a clean record. www.brianbanks.org Thank you, from another female Sex Offender

[naomizane]

06:39 PM on 04/09/2012

If this sicko had come after one of my daughters,he would have been in jail years ago, after I beat the cr** out of him..Either her mother didn't know or didn't care,I hope it's that she didn't know,if it's otherwise, she deserves to be in jail herself, for failure to protect her child.From what the story states it's been going on since she was 14 years old.

[tainteddr34ms]

04:58 PM on 04/09/2012

Teachers shouldn't be allowed to have sex with students in their school regardless of age, but to ban relationships between consenting adults just because one adult used to attend the teacher's school is crazy. Why do republicans think they have a right to control the sex lives of consenting adults? What is their obsession? How can they claim to be for smaller government with a straight face when they're so bent on using the government to regulate sex between consenting adults?

[Andrea Mentzel]

03:37 PM on 04/09/2012

This girls mother should have stopped her daughter from going after him. Parents should always be in control.

[IndependentBadger]

02:05 PM on 04/09/2012

Is it really abuse, if the woman doesn't feel abused, ten years later?

Yes, because the man did not know this when he did what he did.

[IndependentBadger]

02:03 PM on 04/09/2012

Who cares about his infatuation with a younger woman? Every dude likes younger women.

Not every dude abandons his family.

This guy abandoned his family. I think that's way more serious than messing around with the village bicycle.

[sensimilla]

04:01 PM on 04/16/2012

i agree. It's one thing to have an affair, it's another thing to abandon your family.

[Neil Denholm]

12:52 PM on 04/09/2012

Why would any man of that age want a girl when he can have a woman? beyond me!

[Renee Johnson]

01:12 PM on 04/11/2012

because he does not have the mentallity of a grown up and wants someone that he believes he can control!! sick man..that's what he gets for being so public..this other young lady probably thought he was hers and now she is hurt and telling what happened...

[Brisimp]

01:56 PM on 04/11/2012

You don't know this girl or her maturity level...she is 18...and although they are a small percentage, I know 18 year olds who are more mature than 30 year olds. My sister met her now husband when she was 17 and he was 29...she is now a surgeon. At 18 years of age she was more mature than most adults. She is perfectly happy and successful now...As long as they are following the law (which it seems they are) then why is their relationship anyone's business (ESPECIALLY the media/public's business) except their own?...and perhaps the family he left behind's business. People are obsessed with being nosey and judgemental. It's ridiculous.

[joeyfoto]

12:23 PM on 04/09/2012

Laws that make it a crime for high-school teachers to have sex with students are appropriate for myriad obvious reasons. However, any law that would attempt to criminalize teachers from having sex with former students who are over 18 and out of school would be unenforceable and probably unconstitutional.

[Brittany Fools Marie]

12:01 PM on 04/09/2012

I think that its kinda BS how the mother is acting. If her daughter is saying that she fell for him and they didn't do anything about it until she was 18. Okay? Leave her alone, at 18 in the laws eyes she is an adult. She needs to grow up and make mistakes like everyone else. She would eventually leave him anyway. (based purely on the age difference) I also think its a BS that people are acting the way they are acting over it. He quit his job before the public even knew about his relationship with her, so really doesn't matter anymore. He did all the "right" things in accordance to the law. So get over.

[Brisimp]

02:00 PM on 04/11/2012

Amen Brittany Fools Marie! People are strange, nosey, and obsessed with other people's personal lives/business.

[amluvinit2]

11:54 AM on 04/09/2012

How long will this relationship last?

I would be horrified to find out that a teacher was on the make with my 14 yr. old daughter.

[Andrea Mentzel]

03:39 PM on 04/09/2012

Parents should always be in control of their children.

[Killermolls44]

04:47 PM on 04/09/2012

Probably not long, he'll probably move on to another 14 year old.

[Brisimp]

01:58 PM on 04/11/2012

It said they MET when she was 14. MEETING someone does not equal sexual relations...at least for the majority of people...maybe you are just different...

[psandysdad]

11:37 AM on 04/09/2012

Do the math: 41 does not go into 18.

So there must be some reason this girl he ran off with likes older men, if she indeed likes them. Usually young girls don't look at fossils twice.

I doubt if 'they' will be able to prove a sex crime from ten years ago, though.

[sensimilla]

03:58 PM on 04/16/2012

actually i think he proved that indeed "41 does go INTO 18"...

[Gigi1217]

11:18 AM on 04/09/2012

"In response to the relationship between Hooker and Jordan Powers, a state lawmaker from Modesto last week proposed legislation that would ban student-teacher relationships regardless of age, even if the student is 18, and strip school employees of their pensions and retiree health care if they are convicted."

That's a great idea. I really hope it becomes a law. This whole student/teacher sexual relationship thing is out of control. It seems as though it's happening more and more.

As for Jordan, I know she feels stupid now. Anyone could've told her that he did this to at least one other young lady before. He's nothing more than a predator.