By MARY SELL, Alabama Daily News
Perry Hooper Jr., a former state representative and current member of the Alabama Republican Party’s Executive Committee, has been charged with first degree sexual abuse, the Montgomery Police Department confirmed to Alabama Daily News Tuesday afternoon.
He was taken into custody Tuesday by the U.S. Marshals Task Force and placed in the Montgomery County Detention Facility.
According to MPD, the alleged abuse occurred the evening of Aug. 16 in the 100 block of Commerce Street in downtown Montgomery. Additional court documents were not immediately available.
Hooper represented a Montgomery district in the Alabama Legislature for nearly 20 years until 2003 and is still involved in Republican politics. At the ALGOP’s recent summer meeting, Hooper presented at least two resolutions, including one praising the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions.
Hooper was co-chair of Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign in Alabama and occasionally writes political columns that appear in a variety of publications in Alabama. His father, Perry Hooper Sr., was Alabama Chief Justice from 1995 until 2001.
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Hooper’s bond was set at $15,000, according to the county jail’s website. Attempts to reach Hooper Tuesday were not successful. As of Tuesday night, he was no longer listed as an inmate. According to MPD, the Marshals Task Force is its partnering agency and receives the department’s violent crime warrants.
According to Alabama code, sexual abuse in the first degree includes sexual contact by forcible compulsion and/or sexual contact with someone who is incapable of consent by reason of being incapacitated. It is a Class C felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison and fines up to $15,000.