Man Sentenced to 104 Years in Sex-Slave Case

As his victim looked on, a former mill worker fascinated with bondage, torture and the occult was sentenced today to 104 years in prison for kidnaping the young woman and keeping her as a sex slave for 7 1/2 years.

In passing sentence, Superior Court Judge Clarence B. Knight called Cameron Hooker “the most dangerous psychopath I have ever encountered.”

Hooker appeared resigned as Knight handed down consecutive sentences totaling 69 years. Hooker also faces an additional term of up to 35 years because the crimes were committed under state sentencing laws that have since been changed.

Hooker, 31, admitted that he and his wife, Janice, kidnaped the woman, then 20, at knifepoint as she hitchhiked near Red Bluff in May, 1977, to fulfill Hooker’s fantasies of sexual slavery and bondage.

The woman fled in August, 1984, after being urged by Hooker’s wife to escape. Hooker was arrested three months later when his wife, aided by a clergyman, brought in authorities.

Janice Hooker testified that she helped Hooker because she believed his warning that she would burn in hell if she didn’t participate.

“I felt like I didn’t have any choice,” the 27-year-old woman said, “because I was scared to go to hell.”

Hooker argued that he was innocent because the hitchhiker eventually consented to stay with him willingly, thus the three-year statute of limitations on kidnaping had expired.

But the victim denied that again today. “It wasn’t my consent at all,” she said. “I felt that I had no rights. . . . “

At times, the victim was kept in a box under Hooker’s bed, had her head encased in a box that cut off light and sound, or was chained to a toilet. Hooker kept the woman under control by warning her that a sex-slave ring he called “The Company” would track her down and kill her if she tried to escape.