{"id":3361,"date":"2026-06-30T07:07:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3361"},"modified":"2026-06-30T07:07:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:07:52","slug":"berkeley-ex-school-teacher-who-claimed-to-be-in-love-with-student-sentenced-to-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3361","title":{"rendered":"Berkeley ex-school teacher who claimed to be in love with student sentenced to prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BERKELEY \u2014 A former high school teacher who groomed a student with graphic text messages and expressions of love will serve a six-year, eight-month prison sentence through a plea deal that the Alameda County District Attorney announced Monday.<\/p>\n

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Jason Hoopes, 50, pleaded no contest to arranging a sexual meeting with a minor and statutory rape of a student. District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson released a statement calling his crimes \u201ca profound betrayal of trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoopes was arrested in 2025 and originally charged with 23 felonies after police uncovered evidence he\u2019d sexually abused an underage student no fewer than five times, according to court records. Their investigation included seized text messages between the student and Hoopes, where Hoopes detailed graphic, sometimes violent, sexual fantasies, including saying he wanted to \u201ckidnap you off the street\u201d and \u201cI want to sneak into your room in the night while you\u2019re sleeping,\u201d armed with a knife.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m laying here in bed in the dark listening to a demo I did of a new song for my band and writing lyrics totally thinking about you,\u201d the high school band teacher allegedly wrote in one text, according to police.<\/p>\n

Finally, when he learned he would soon be arrested, Hoopes authored a suicide note shifting blame to the victim, writing that, the two \u201ccrossed a line together.\u201d The letter was left for his partner, who gave it to police, according to court records.<\/p>\n

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Hoopes, an El Cerrito resident, worked since 2016 at Bayhill High School, a private school for students in grades 7 to 12 with learning disabilities. The charging records allege crimes that took place between at least March 23 and May 4 of last year. Police began investigating him after the alleged victim\u2019s father tipped them off on May 19, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The principal of the high school also told police after hearing that Hoopes had targeted a second student for sexual abuse, but no charges have yet been filed involving that teen, court records show.<\/p>\n

After his arrest last May, Hoopes was placed in a mental health hold before being jailed, court records show. He was fired from his job, and the school issued a statement saying his arrest was \u201cshocking and devastating for our entire school community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Hoopes must register as a sex offender for life, according to the terms of the plea deal.<\/p>\n

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“I’m laying here in bed in the dark listening to a demo I did of a new song for my band and writing lyrics totally thinking about you,” the band teacher allegedly texted his student.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBerkeley ex-school teacher who claimed to be in love with student sentenced to prison - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=3361\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Berkeley ex-school teacher who claimed to be in love with student sentenced to prison - 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