By Ayanna Gandhi
SACRAMENTO – Three victims of serial sexual offender Jason Hook read their accounts of mistreatment by him in Sacramento County Superior Court late last week.
They were horrific stories.
In order to reach the agreed 75 years to life sentence, Deputy District Attorney Dinah Miekle informed Judge Jeffrey Goodman that Hook would be required to admit to all the charges. He did.
Hook’s child victim was the first to read her statement. She started by saying, “I always felt like Jason was like a father figure to me. Someone who could always make me laugh.”
And, then she went on to explain the guilt she felt for not knowing that his actions were wrong and she didn’t prevent them. The victim explained how the defendant took advantage of not only her but those who were close to her as well.
The victim explained how Hook introduced his son to her and when his son would leave the room, Jason Hook would sit her down on his lap and start tickling her. However, it would escalate into his touching her sexually and kissing her on the lips. Hook’s son would see this and become angry and jealous.
She ended by saying, “Every time I go back to the church, I remember where he sat, and I immediately become sad and angry again.”
The next victim was represented by a victim advocate who read her impact statement to the court. The victim was 16 when continuously assaulted by Hook, and wrote, “Jason made me do things I am embarrassed to even talk about.
The victim explained that Hook would “make her and his son have oral sex with each other and him.” The victim went on to say how Hook would make her undress in front of him, attempt penetration, and grab and kiss her and his son in sexual ways.
He would threaten her by saying he knew dangerous people, such as the Hell’s Angels, and would “have them take care of her family.” Hook told the victim he would kill her little sister. He threatened physical harm on her and her family members, even threatening to cut off her pinky finger at one point.
In the end, she said her resistance deterred him from trying, but enough had been done already.
The victim questioned her sexuality and started to wonder if she was enjoying it or allowing it. To this day, she cannot sleep properly; she will often wake up feeling as though she can’t breathe—as though Jason Hook is breathing down her neck.
The victim wrote she is so ashamed of her body, she will not shower with others in the house. She feels guilty for not stopping it and not coming forward earlier—and suicidal thoughts have come from this.
The victim is scared that, if he is released, he will retaliate. She cannot escape this pain and writes how “this man has caused me problems which will not be resolved until the day I die. No sentence is long enough for him to feel the pain he has brought to my family and me.”
The last impact statement was given by the DDA Miekle on behalf of a woman with whom Jason Hook shares six children. The victim explained how her six children grapple with the “devastating and horrendous actions which were inflicted upon them by their own father.”
This victim cannot even hold her children for long amounts of time without their become uncomfortable and scared. The children would wake up at night screaming, spasming, and sweating so much that the victim and her husband would have to sit with them, awake all night.
Later, the children would fight their own sleep to not have to face their dreams and out of fear of the night. The children would start fainting in random places at all times of the day because their bodies could simply not take it anymore.
The victim says, “I feel like a failure as a mother. My own voice cannot reach my children. I am forced to watch them suffer. The suicide attempts by my children haunt me and there are no strong enough words to convince my children it is not their fault and take away their despair.”
She ended by explaining how this experience has halted their lives.
She explained how “therapy, court, and despair consumed their lives, making the days even darker. The tears, panic attacks, and anxiety could not even be drowned out by electronics and video games. The monsters in their rooms never left. They are there day and night.”
Judge Goodman read Hook his charges as the defendant plead guilty. Hook has no-contact orders for all the victims and is not eligible for probation or visitation with the victims. On the first count, Hook was sentenced to a consecutive 45 years to life total, for each of his victims. He was also charged with 30 years to life on the second count.
In total, the defendant will serve 75 years to life with an upward of three years concurrent.
Restitution is not currently being requested by the victims, but Judge Goodman stated that if they later do demand it, Hook will be required to pay. However, Judge Goodman has ordered a $300 fine for a sexual offender program.
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