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Cameron Hooker hearing scheduled for late November

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RED BLUFF— The hearing in the case to categorize infamous kidnapper Cameron Hooker as a sexually violent predator and ineligible for parole was scheduled for late November earlier this week in San Mateo County.

San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office Chief Deputy Sean Gallagher said the case was continued Monday at the request of the defense attorney, who is attempting to retain an expert on the case to evaluate Hooker. It is now set for Nov. 20 for a status conference hearing.

He will remain in custody pending trial.

Cameron Hooker
Cameron Hooker

The case is being handled by the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office because the original trial was moved to San Mateo County on a change of venue motion.

Hooker was convicted by a jury in 1985 of kidnapping, oral copulation, rape with a foreign object, sodomy and six counts of rape in 1988 after he and his wife Janice Hooker kidnapped 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 in prison.

Hooker was committed to state prison in San Mateo County, causing San Mateo County to retain jurisdiction over the sexually violent predator proceedings.

A state hospital evaluated Hooker, who was deemed positive for classification as a sexually violent predator.

Hooker’s last parole hearing was held in 2015, and his eligibility for a parole hearing was denied for 15 years until 2030. He attempted to advance his parole eligibility hearing, but the parole board denied that request.

According to the Tehama County District Attorney’s Office, changes to state law that are beneficial to inmates specifically changes to “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 began a letter-writing campaign in November of 2019 to advocate that Hooker be evaluated as a sexually violent predator and to make sure not to 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 California Department of Corrections director advocating for Hooker to be evaluated as a sexually violent predator.

The D.A.’s Office said the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation personally responded to the letters, indicating that Hooker would be evaluated for designation as a sexually violence predator. Rogers wrote a second letter in August 2020 reminding the department of its obligation to evaluate Hooker for classification as a sexually violent predator.

Hooker’s hearing date has been moved several times during recent years.