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 Rev. Hooper Guilty of Attempted Rape web posted October 13, 2011 Hooper escorted out of the Courthouse in handcuffs after conviction  EDGEFIELD – It took a jury less
than half
an hour to convict Rev. James Robert "JR" Hooper of assault and battery
of a high and aggravated nature that stemmed from an attempted rape of
a woman in March
of 2007. The victim, who rented a home from Hooper, told police at the
time and again in court that he came into her room while she was
sleeping and attacked her after pulling the covers off the bed exposing
her partially nude body.Mr. Hooper's lawyer, Theo Williams of Lexington, tried to insinuate the testimony of the witness as untrue and attacked the Edgefield Police investigation during cross examination, which obviously failed to sway the jury. Mr. Hooper never took the stand in his own defense. His sole supporter in the courtroom was his wife who sat directly behind him during the one day trial. Jury members also heard a "controlled call" between the victim and Mr. Hooper that was made with the aid of law enforcement shortly after the investigation was initiated. In the call the woman asked Mr. Hooper why he assaulted her and wanted to know if that was the reason he was evicting her from the home. Mr. Hooper can be heard saying, “it has nothing to do with that.” The woman made repeated comments about the attack and questions about his sexual advances and Hooper never denied the comments and stated it was all about him wanting his money. Mr. Hooper at no time admitted to the accusations during the call, nor did he try to refute them. The jury listened to the recording multiple times in the jury room during their brief deliberations. After the verdict was announced Circuit Court Judge Ferrell Cothran sentenced Hooper to 7 years, then suspended the sentence upon serving 90 days in jail followed by 3 years of probation. If he fails to comply with the grounds of the coming probation Hooper could be jailed for the remainder of the 7 year sentence. He will serve his 90 day sentence at the Edgefield County Detention Center. 74-year-old Hooper will not be required to register as a sex offender. An earlier trial last year ended in a hung jury. © Copyright 2011 All material is property of
EdgefieldDaily.com and parent company and
cannot be reproduced,
rewritten or
redistributed without the expressed written permission of Edgefield Daily.com
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