Warning: This story contains disturbing details.
A B.C. man who is already in prison for sexually assaulting an adolescent girl has been sentenced for crimes against two additional victims – both vulnerable teens in foster care, according to a recent court decision.
Peter John Hooper was convicted of one count of sexual touching of a young person with whom he was in an exploitative relationship and one count of sexual assault after a trial in 2023 and sentenced last month in Victoria.
“His pattern of befriending vulnerable girls, engaging in illicit drug use with them, and then sexually abusing them, and his utter lack of remorse, in my view, speak to a considerable risk of reoffending and point to the need for a lengthy prison sentence for the protection of the public,” Justice Anthony Saunders wrote in the decision.
Read more: Victoria man sentenced for sexually assaulting teen after supplying her drugs
The victims in the most recent case are sisters who the court refers to as “S” and “F” due to a publication ban.
“S and F were vulnerable youth, both living in foster homes for the majority of the time they were acquainted with him, and both also suffering from substance abuse,” the decision said.
According to the decision, Hooper met the pair in 2016 and began buying them alcohol and supplying them with cannabis. He would drink and smoke marijuana with them, often at his home while his wife was working, the court heard.
In 2018, the sisters – who were 16 and 17 at the time – started using meth, which Hooper, 42, had recently began using himself.
“Mr. Hooper became their principal source or supplier and they would use meth with him in his home frequently,” the decision said.
Sixteen-year-old S, the judge noted, was legally able to consent to sex and told the court she had sex with Hooper “multiple times.” But the judge found the relationship was fundamentally exploitative.
“He facilitated her drug use, supplying her with alcohol and drugs or money to buy drugs, providing a location where drugs could be consumed in his condo or in his car, and taking drugs with her,” the decision said.
“She was a young vulnerable person. Mr. Hooper had an income, a home, and a vehicle. There was an obvious power imbalance which Mr. Hooper took advantage of sexually for his own gratification.”
The judge also summarized two specific incidents S testified about at trial, drawing attention to their “degrading nature.” Both involved Hooper and his drug dealer “taking turns” with the teen while she was high.
The court heard that F was raped by Hooper in his home while she was high, after he had tried to pressure her into having sex with him and one of his adult male friends.
The crimes were described by the judge as “reprehensible.”
Both young women provided the court with victim impact statements, describing struggles with depression, suicidality and the ongoing impacts of trauma on their lives and relationships.
“Their statements serve as vivid evidence of the impact of sexual abuse on vulnerable adolescents,” the decision said.
Hooper was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison for the crimes against S and F to be served concurrently with his previous five-year sentence – which worked out to an additional four years after considering the time Hooper had already served.
