Former Modesto resident Jamie Reidy comments on the California high school teacher who has left his family to move in with an 18-year old former student.
Cecilia Vega’s ABC News report triggers a lot of questions, notably “Where can I buy bolt cutters in Modesto?”
“I know my family is probably disappointed in me,” James Hooker, 41, said. “They’re probably confused in what we’re doing.”
Probably? Yeah, that’s a safe bet, To Catch A Predator.
The former teacher at Modesto’s James Enochs High School maintains that he did nothing illegal, and that people questioning the couple’s relationship, including Jordan Powers’ mother, who wants Hooker arrested, are ignoring the details of their relationship’s timeline. “They don’t care about the rest of the story. They don’t care about the rest of the detail,” Hooker said. “Once I … resigned and ended my assignment … that’s when we took it to the next level.”
Ewwww. To put it in high school terms, does “the next level” mean they’d been hanging out on third base just waiting for her to turn 18?
Staying on the high school theme, is Jordan gonna ask Mr. Hooker to the prom? If so, I doubt he’ll go with the wrist corsage.
As is typical, I need to make this about me. First of all, this sick bastard is not helping the image of pale, bald men in their early 40s. For the record: we are not all weirdos.
I lived in Modesto for two and a half years, from 1998 to 2000. Located in the northern San Joaquin Valley, it’s halfway between Fresno and Sacramento. I moved to the Mo-town because I knew it was home to Gallo Wines’ headquarters, which, naturally, meant it was wine country. (Note: the location of a wine giant’s HQ does not a Napa make.) It’s as quiet as a city of 100,000 residents can be.
Which means it’s a lousy place to be single. But this James Hooker perv isn’t single! He’s married with three kids, one of whom attends the same school as his live-in (threw up in my mouth) lover. Sorry I, like, stole your dad from your mom.
Poor Modesto. What cursed this town to become a magnet for media circuses? Allow me to refresh your memory: inFebruary 1999, Yosemite serial killer Cary Stayner dumped a victim’s wallet on a Modesto street to throw cops off his trail (didn’t work); in 2001, local girl Chandra Levy disappeared in DC, resulting in the revelation she’d been having an affair with Congressman Gary Condit; and in December 2002, Laci Peterson vanished. Thankfully, no murders sparked this latest media frenzy.
Speaking of murder, if Jordan’s dad whacked the whack job defiling his 18-year old daughter, would he be convicted by a jury of his peers?