104-Year Sentence Given Man in Sex-Slavery Case

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. —  A lumber mill worker convicted of abducting a young woman and holding her in bondage for seven years as his sex slave was sentenced here Friday to 104 years in state prison.

San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Clarence Knight said he imposed the maximum sentence on Cameron Hooker because of the “cruelty and viciousness of the crimes.” Knight called the 31-year-old defendant “the most dangerous psychopath I have ever encountered.”

Admits Kidnaping

During his trial, which was transferred here from his home town of Red Bluff under a change of venue, Hooker admitted that he and his wife, Janice, kidnaped the woman, then 20 years old, at knifepoint as she was hitchhiking through Northern California in May, 1977.

The victim testified that Cameron Hooker tortured and raped her repeatedly and kept her confined for long periods in a coffin-like box. Janice Hooker, who was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony, said the young woman spent the first nine months of her confinement blindfolded but was later allowed out to work at a nearby motel after agreeing to sign a “slave contract.”

Prosecutors said the young woman was cowed by Cameron Hooker’s phony threats that a secret organization called “The Company” would hunt her down and kill her if she fled. Investigators said the woman finally escaped, with the aid of a local clergyman, after Janice Hooker convinced her that Cameron Hooker was lying.

“I don’t know that I have any feelings toward him,” Cameron Hooker’s victim told reporters after watching him being sentenced. “I’m just very glad that he won’t be able to hurt me or anyone else again.”