BERKELEY — More than 20 felony counts have been filed against a since-dismissed Berkeley private school music teacher suspected of illegal sexual activity with an underage student committed over several months, according to authorities and court records.
The suspect, Jason Hoopes, 49, of El Cerrito, who was arrested last week, is being held on $495,000 bail at Santa Rita Jail. He is scheduled to enter a plea on June 11.
He was charged May 29 with 10 counts of oral copulation of a person under 18, five counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and eight counts of arranging a sexual meeting with a minor.
Hoopes is accused of having an illegal sexual relationship with a student at Bayhill High School, a private school for students in grades 7 to 12 with learning differences, between at least March 23 and May 4 of this year. He has since been fired from the school, where he had been working since 2016.
The gender and age of the student have not been released.
Police began an investigation May 19 after the school principal learned of a “series of explicit communications” over texts between Hoopes and the student and contacted police. People who know the student had also expressed concerns about his behavior.
Police determined that the messages had taken place over several months and that Hoopes had met the student in another East Bay city at least five times for several hours on each occasion, the documents say.
Hoopes “admitted to engaging in sexual activity with the victim five times during the time he met the victim alone,” the documents say.
During the visits Hoopes also allegedly hugged and kissed the student and “specifically told the victim not to tell anyone about their relationship,” the documents say.
Police also found “sexually explicit communications and photographs” on Hoopes’ and the student’s cell phones, the documents say.
Authorities are investigating the possibility there might be other victims. Anyone with information is asked to contact Berkeley police at 510-981-5735.
Besides teaching at the school, according to his LinkedIn account, Hoopes is an accomplished bassist who has performed with numerous groups across the Bay Area.
A statement issued by Bayhill said “the scope of these charges is shocking and devastating for our entire school community” and notes that the charges go beyond the initial report about inappropriate text communications.
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The statement goes on to say “When Mr. Hoopes was hired, he cleared background checks, which included FBI fingerprinting.
“Healthy relationships between students and employees and the emotional and physical well-being of the children in our community are fundamental to what we stand for at Bayhill,” the statement says. “Conduct by faculty or other employees that violates our trust in them will not be tolerated.
“To that end, our school has very robust child protection policies in place that meet best practices, and we reinforce these expectations on a regular basis. The safety of our community members is our highest priority, and we remain focused on the most important work of supporting our students.”
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