November 23, 2024
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‘Real estate rapist’ from Maine sentenced in N.H. sex assault

DOVER, N.H. – A man dubbed the “real estate rapist” was sentenced Monday to 50 to 100 years in prison for raping a 19-year-old woman in her house after telling her he was interested in buying it.

Oliver Hooper, 35, of Gorham, Maine, was convicted in May on five counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault; two counts of criminal threatening; one count of kidnapping; and several misdemeanors. He won’t be eligible for parole until he’s 85.

Judge Peter Fauver, addressing Hooper, said he put the victim “through a nightmare of horrible proportions that she will have to deal with the rest of her life. I’m going to keep you off the street as long as I can to keep you from harming someone else. … You have shown not one ounce of remorse.”

Prosecutors said Hooper, a traveling salesman, faked interest in buying the home on July 26, 2005, forced his way inside and raped the woman at knife-point.

“He has affected my life,” the woman testified in Strafford County Superior Court at Hooper’s sentencing hearing. “I will never be free from the damage he has caused me. He didn’t kill me, but he killed my spirit, my confidence and my happiness.”

Her parents also testified, saying their daughter has been scarred for life.

Within an hour of the assault, prosecutors said, Hooper visited two other homes in Dover less than a mile from the victim’s home. All three witnesses gave descriptions matching Hooper and gave police a description of the car he drove. He was arrested 10 days later after a massive manhunt.

Police and prosecutors believe Hooper visited about a dozen other homes in southern New Hampshire, Maine, and northeastern Massachusetts, posing as a potential home buyer while seeking additional victims.

Prosecutors said they were pleased with the sentence; it was what the state had asked for.

Hooper declined to address the victim or the court. His wife, Jody Hooper, submitted a letter that described him as being loving, caring and kindhearted. She said her husband “is human and not a monster.” The couple have two children.


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