Teacher, 41, resigns, leaves wife, moves in with 18-year-old student

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davehead21

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An angry California mother is alleging abuse now that her 18-year-old daughter is living with her former high school teacher, who left his wife and children to move into an apartment with the young woman.

James Hooker, 41, quit his job after going public with his love for Jordan Powers, who stopped attending classes at her Modesto high school and left home to be with her former business teacher.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlin...n-leaves-school-moves-in-with-former-teacher/
 
Thanks for posting, davehead. I saw this story on GMA this morning and my first thought was that this guy is another Mary Kay Letourneau: leaving one's spouse and children to pursue a troubled child. :notgood: IMO, this situation just screams "girl in search of a father figure".

I found this passage particularly gag-worthy:
“[He's] my best friend. I mean, he’s more than just a lover,” Jordan Powers said of Hooker, who has a daughter a year younger than her and attended the same high school.
Click to expand...
 
Velouria said:
Thanks for posting, davehead. I saw this story on GMA this morning and my first thought was that this guy is another Mary Kay Letourneau: leaving one's spouse and children to pursue a troubled child. :notgood: IMO, this situation just screams "girl in search of a father figure".

I found this passage particularly gag-worthy:
Click to expand...

BBM
You're probably right-there is no comment from the girl's father. So maybe there is no father figure in her life and the teacher is probably going thru mid life anxieties and clearly not thinking with the right brain (if ya know what I mean):rolleyes: by throwing away his marriage and possibly his career. My prediction-she'll be pregnant within the year and he'll be regretting his actions soon after!
With his young girlfriend by his side, Hooker explained their position to the newspaper. "We keep asking ourselves, 'Do we make everyone else happy or do we follow our hearts?'
http://centralmodesto.news10.net/news/news/94083-mom-blasts-modesto-teachers-affair-her-daughter
:hand:OH PULEEZE!!! Her mother's right-he had intent and pursued her!!
 
People make stupid family decisions all the time...men leave women. Marriages get destroyed, and both men and women go after other people.
How is this news-worthy?
 
I can't help thinking about his daughter and what she must be going through. Divorce is not easy for kids this age anyway. But to have him moving in and living with one of her peers must take it to a whole new level.

If she were my daughter I would have to question her about if he really did love her and want the best for her. If he did, how could he ask her or even permit her to leave school when she is this near to graduating. When waiting just months would have meant she had graduated and had that piece of paper that means so much when trying to surivive in the working world. I don't care what they say, employers do look down on a GED a bit.

If I could talk to him I would have to ask him what he would say if his 17 yr old daughter turned 18 and came to him and said I am quitting school and moving in with my teacher. How comfortable would he be with that? Would he feel the teacher really had his daughter's best interests at heart? Also how does he plan on supporting his daughter, his new household and his new girlfriend now that he doesn't have a job?

And if I was the daughter, I would be tempted to try to set that up. Not to go through with it, but to try to make arrangements where it looked like she was going to do it.
 
not_my_kids said:
People make stupid family decisions all the time...men leave women. Marriages get destroyed, and both men and women go after other people.
How is this news-worthy?
Click to expand...

It's the whole teacher/student thing. It makes for an unequal relationship as he has traditionally had the power role. It's just compounded by the inequality of the ages and experiences.
 
essies said:
BBM
You're probably right-there is no comment from the girl's father. So maybe there is no father figure in her life and the teacher is probably going thru mid life anxieties and clearly not thinking with the right brain (if ya know what I mean):rolleyes: by throwing away his marriage and possibly his career. My prediction-she'll be pregnant within the year and he'll be regretting his actions soon after!With his young girlfriend by his side, Hooker explained their position to the newspaper. "We keep asking ourselves, 'Do we make everyone else happy or do we follow our hearts?'
http://centralmodesto.news10.net/news/news/94083-mom-blasts-modesto-teachers-affair-her-daughter
:hand:OH PULEEZE!!! Her mother's right-he had intent and pursued her!!
Click to expand...

BBM

What I forsee is after the honeymoon period, she will start seeing him as a parental figure and will start that whole parent/child separation thing that teens are so well known for. And she will probably also start looking around at kids her own age.... dating, going to college, starting careers. The grass always looks greener on the other side. He will probably get her pregnant to try to settle her down, but eventually she will walk out.
He will be under a lot of pressure to try to make up for all she is missing, and he will also begin to resent her. Remember she will be trying to learn how to keep house, live on a budget not controlled by her parents, cook and keep up with the laundry and do all those other things that newlyweds usually struggle with. He has already gotten past all that, he went through all that once.
 
mysteriew said:
It's the whole teacher/student thing. It makes for an unequal relationship as he has traditionally had the power role. It's just compounded by the inequality of the ages and experiences.
Click to expand...

He is also being investigated and could possibly be charged if it can be proven that their relationship started before the girl turned 18. A lot of students at the high school he taught at/she was a student say that their relationship started when she was 14. How anyone can think this shouldn't be news is beyond me.

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012...g-investigated-for-relationship-with-student/
 
If there was abuse, then it's news.

If there wasn't, then it's a personal decision, and not news.

JMO.
 
not_my_kids said:
If there was abuse, then it's news.

If there wasn't, then it's a personal decision, and not news.

JMO.
Click to expand...

In many states (not all) it is illegal for a teacher to have a sexual relationship with a high school student, no matter what the student's age is. So a teacher having sex with his student who is 18, and a senior in high school would be charged just the same as if the student were underage.
 
We have a guy in jail here, right now, for exactly this same offense.

Thinking with your d#%* is NEVER a good idea guys.
 
The way I am understanding it NMK (and I don't know that I am correct) but it looks like they announced her leaving school, their moving in together, his leaving his wife and his quitting his job all about the same time. So it would have been very obvious that he and she didn't quit and then meet up and get together.
 
davehead21 said:
He is also being investigated and could possibly be charged if it can be proven that their relationship started before the girl turned 18. A lot of students at the high school he taught at/she was a student say that their relationship started when she was 14. How anyone can think this shouldn't be news is beyond me.

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012...g-investigated-for-relationship-with-student/
Click to expand...

Oh Lordi, I didn't know that! 14? I was thinking she's 18 and can have whatever kinky relationship she wants. But if he was abusing her at 14 that's another matter altogether. And WHY is it just now being said? If a lot of students kept their mouth shut for 4 years - shame on them. No, I'm not blaming them for the relationship, but a 14 year old possibly having sex with a teacher is rape and those co-students should know that.

MOO

Mel
 
Melanie said:
Oh Lordi, I didn't know that! 14? I was thinking she's 18 and can have whatever kinky relationship she wants. But if he was abusing her at 14 that's another matter altogether. And WHY is it just now being said? If a lot of students kept their mouth shut for 4 years - shame on them. No, I'm not blaming them for the relationship, but a 14 year old possibly having sex with a teacher is rape and those co-students should know that.

MOO

Mel
Click to expand...

I wondered the same thing, Melanie. I think this is what happened (and this is my opinion only)-- when the girl dropped out of school and moved in with her teacher, her mother did a little investigating of her own and found the emails and records of late night phone calls and texts (8,000) that took place before her daughter was 18, so she contacted LE. I guess it's also possible that the mother has known all along and is just mad that her daughter dropped out of school, so she's punishing her this way. Either way, the teacher is in the wrong.

As for the other students, who knows why they kept their mouths shut about this. Maybe some of them did say something and they weren't believed. Who knows.

This article gives the link to the picture this girl's mother put up on Facebook with a very lively caption. I'm not sure if it was included in any of the articles previously linked.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/james-hooker-california-h_n_1313538.html
 
If the relationship began when she was his student and before she was 18, it's an abuse of power if nothing else. If he is charged with molesting her as a student, where will that leave their 'housekeeping' setup? Will she run home to momma? He has betrayed not only his own wife and children but this girl also by getting her into such a lopsided situation. I really feel sorry for his children with this all being so public and their going on TV to profess their 'love'. What a mess!
 
Sounds to me like a case of a teacher grooming a student victim. I can see this coming apart when he has to start paying child support and maybe alimony. I can't say what I might do as her father but I can think it.

I like her mom's comment, I don't tap-out.
 
This guy is Stupid with a capital S. At best he's losing his family and this relationship will end with her leaving his old *advertiser censored*. At worst, he's going to be put under a microscope and if any illegality is found in his past with this girl, he goes to jail. Dumbass. I feel sorry for his family. They have to live with this humiliation.

Seriously dude look at yourself. Unless you are a millionaire, there is nothing she can really see in you. Following your heart? If by heart you mean male delusions created by male genetalia, then OK. Sounds about right.
 
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