Man convicted for brutal, years-long imprisonment and sexual assault deemed Sexually Violent Predator
File photo of Cameron Hooker | Tehama County District Attorney’s Office
The Tehama County District Attorney’s Office has announced that Cameron Hooker, convicted in 1985 for the brutal, years-long imprisonment and continual sexual assault of a woman in the late ’70s to early ’80s, has been deemed a Sexually Violent Predator amid recent changes in state law that have made him eligible for parole this year.
Hooker was originally sentenced in 1985 to 104 years in prison, later reduced to 74 years. His first parole hearing took place in 2015 but parole was denied for 15 years — to the year 2030. Hooker later attempted to expedite a second parole hearing to 2018, but was denied.
The District Attorney’s Office reports, however, that changes in state law, including the “good conduct credit” afforded to inmates, has made him eligible for parole in September of this year.
In light of this development, Tehama County District Attorney Matthew Rogers, along with numerous other officials including Red Bluff Police Chief Kyle Sanders, Tehama County Sheriff Dave Hencratt, and Corning Police Chief Jeremiah Fears, began a letter-writing campaign to have Hooker evaluated by the California Department of Corrections as a Sexually Violent Predator.
The California Sexually Violent Predator program is a civil commitment program that seeks to commit sex offenders who meet certain criteria to a locked state hospital, where they undergo a rigorous treatment program that can take anywhere from 10 to 20 years to complete before they can be reevaluated for potential supervised release.
As of March 18 of this year, Hooker was determined to have met the criteria for commitment as a Sexually Violent Predator. As such, he will remain incarcerated throughout subsequent legal proceedings relevant to his case. The Tehama County District Attorney’s Office has stated that they will keep the public informed of any developments.
