Controversial Teacher and Student Appear in Court Together - East Idaho News
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Controversial Teacher and Student Appear in Court Together

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N 051612 HookerPowers?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1337194539986ABC News(MODESTO, Calif.) — The California high school teacher and student who left their families to date one another have appeared side-by-side in court for a hearing on sex abuse charges filed against the teacher.

James Hooker, 41, and his girlfriend Jordan Powers, 18, were photographed holding hands as they entered and left the Modesto, Calif., courtroom Tuesday where a hearing was held for Hooker on charges that he sexually assaulted another student 14 years ago.

The couple had reportedly separated after Hooker was arrested April 6 after police discovered he had an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student in 1998.

“He called me from jail and yes, I told him that we’re done,” Powers told ABC News in an exclusive interview the day after his arrest. “I lost everything for this guy. I lost my senior year. I gave up all my friends at high school because they didn’t agree with me.”

Just a few weeks later, however, on April 17 Powers told a Sacramento TV reporter who knocked on the door at Hooker’s apartment that the couple was back together.

Hooker is also under investigation for his involvement with Powers, his former business class student.

It was Powers’ mother, Tammie Powers, who reported an alleged inappropriate relationship between them, citing phone records showing long, late-night phone calls and more than 8,000 text messages between the couple, which began before her daughter turned 18.

The couple drew national attention after appearing on national TV programs earlier in March to profess their love, days after Hooker quit his job as a teacher at Enochs High School in order to move into an apartment with Powers the same day. Hooker left his wife and children, including a 17-year-old daughter who also attends Enoch High School, in order to date Powers.

The couple has said that their relationship evolved over time and did not become romantic until Powers turned 18.

In court on Tuesday to face the 1998 charges, Hooker, switched his representation from a public defender to a private attorney, Mary Lynn Belsher, which will lead to a delay in the case, according to local ABC affiliate, News 10.

The judge agreed to Belsher’s request that the trial be moved back to allow her time to prepare the case. Hooker, who remains free on bail, will next appear in court on June 5.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

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