Former State Representative Perry Hooper Jr., age 68, was indicted on sex abuse charges by a Montgomery County grand jury on Friday. Hooper was arrested in August after an incident at a downtown Montgomery restaurant on Commerce Street.
Hooper has been a fixture in Alabama Republican Party politics for decades. He is a member of the Alabama Republican Party Executive Committee representing Montgomery County and a member of the Board of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Hooper was a frequently published political commentator whose columns were frequently published in 1819 News and the Montgomery Advertiser.
According to an affidavit, Hooper approached a woman working at the restaurant from behind and allegedly grabbed her breasts and waist in an unsolicited embrace while shoving his pelvis against the victim’s backside and began kissing her neck before she was able to break free.
The victim reportedly testified before the grand jury.
If convicted, Hooper could face a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $15,000 fine for the charge.
Hooper’s next court date is scheduled for December 21. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge J.R. Gaines. Hooper is represented by veteran Montgomery defense attorney Joe Espy.
Hooper served in the Alabama House of Representatives from 1983 to 2002.
Hooper was an early backer of Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primary season and chaired the Trump Victory Fund in the 2016 campaign. Hooper was a Trump bundler and frequent visitor to the Trump Whitehouse as well as Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Resort.
Hooper’s father, Perry Hooper Sr. – now deceased, was the first Republican Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court since Reconstruction. Hooper is married and has three sons and a number of grandchildren.
The Alabama Republican Party has released a statement condemning sex abuse.
An indictment is merely the finding by a grand jury that the prosecution has presented enough evidence for a jury trial to take place. Hooper will have an opportunity to present a defense at trial before a jury of his peers.
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