Trial of prostitute to begin in San Mateo – Red Bluff Daily News

RED BLUFF – Cameron Hooker's trial, which has been postponed twice since November 2023, was scheduled to begin Friday in San Mateo.

The trial, which will determine whether Hooker is a sexually violent offender, is expected to last two weeks.

Hooker was found guilty by a jury in 1985 of kidnapping, oral sex, rape with a foreign object, sodomy and six counts of rape in 1988 after he and his wife, Janice Hooker, abducted 20-year-old hitchhiker Colleen Stan in 1977 and held her captive in their Red Bluff home for seven years. He was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 6 to 35 years and a determinate term of 69 years.

Hooker was remanded to the San Mateo County State Prison, allowing San Mateo County to retain jurisdiction over the sexually violent abuser's case.

Hooker, who had been diagnosed as a sexually violent offender, was examined at a state hospital and scheduled for trial.

The trial was scheduled to begin in October 2023, but Hooker's attorney John Halley requested an adjournment because Dr. Brian Abbott, who was scheduled to testify for the defense, was not yet able to evaluate Hooker.

On November 20, 2023, the court set a trial date of March 29. However, the trial date was postponed to August in March when Stephen Wagstaffe and San Mateo Assistant District Attorney Anastasia Cooper requested a postponement.

According to court documents, Cooper said Hooker was last evaluated in 2022 and needs an updated evaluation because prosecutors must prove current dangerousness.

Cooper expected at the time that the updated assessment would be completed in mid-April 2024.

Hooker's last parole hearing was in 2015 and his parole eligibility was denied for 15 years, until 2030. He attempted to move up his parole hearing, but the parole board denied his request.

According to the Tehama County District Attorney's Office, changes have been made to state law that are beneficial to inmates, particularly changes to the “good conduct credit” available to inmates. Hooker was released on parole to the Department of State Hospitals in 2021.

Tehama County District Attorney Matt Rogers launched a letter-writing campaign in November 2019 to advocate for Hooker to be classified as a sexually violent predator and not be overlooked by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Rogers, Red Bluff Police Chief Kyle Sanders, former Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt and Corning Police Chief Jeremiah Fears all wrote letters to the director of the California Department of Corrections advocating for Hooker to be classified as a sexually violent predator.

The district attorney's office said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation personally responded to the letters, indicating that Hooker would be evaluated for his classification as a sexually violent offender. Rogers wrote a second letter in August 2020 reminding the department of its obligation to evaluate Hooker for his classification as a sexually violent offender.

Originally published: August 16, 2024 at 10:45 am