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Apr 6, 2012

U.S. News: Ex-California teacher who moved in with high school girl arrested on 1998 molestation charge

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thumbnail Ex-California teacher who moved in with high school girl arrested on 1998 molestation charge
Apr 6th 2012, 21:40

Debbie Noda / Zuma Press

Enochs High School student Jordan Powers, 18, and James Hooker, 41, a teacher who recently resigned from the school, talk about their relationship on March 27.

By msnbc.com staff

Christopher James Hooker, the Modesto, Calif., ex-teacher whose romance with a student drew attention from around the world, was arrested Friday after being charged with one count of oral copulation with a minor in an incident that police said happened 14 years ago, the Modesto Bee reported.

The charge stems from a relationship Hooker is accused of having in 1998 with a 17-year-old student at Davis High School in Modesto, where he was teaching at the time, the newspaper said. Hooker was arrested at his home and booked into Stanislaus County Jail, police said.


Police were already investigating whether there was a criminal case against Hooker, 41, who resigned his job to move into an apartment with an 18-year-old girl he met while teaching in Modesto.

Hooker was placed on administrative leave Feb. 3 by Modesto City Schools and resigned less than three weeks later, according to a report at the Modesto Bee.

Hooker had taught business and computer classes. He left his wife and children to move in with Jordan Powers, an Enochs High School senior whom he met when she was a freshman at the school. One of Hooker's children attends the same high school.

"In making our choice, we've hurt a lot of people," Hooker told the Bee in March. "We keep asking ourselves, 'Do we make everyone else happy or do we follow our hearts?' "

Tammie Powers, the student’s mother, told the Bee she believes Hooker pursued her daughter, and she cited recent problems with her daughter’s grades and health. Her daughter had panic attacks, Powers said.

"I believe it was the stress of the lie," Tammie Powers told the newspaper.

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