A former DFCS counselor was convicted Thursday afternoon of raping and molesting a 14-year-old girl, the Fulton County District Attorney's Office said.
But Earl Hopper, 39, wasn’t in the courtroom for his sentencing. Earlier this week, Hopper never returned from a lunch break during the trial, DA Paul Howard’s office said. Hopper was sentenced in absentia to life plus 51 years in prison, Howard said.
Though Hopper initially denied involvement in the Nov. 9, 2011 incident, DNA evidence later linked him to the attack and he was arrested, Howard said.
As a DFCS counselor, Hopper was assigned to work with the victim’s siblings and offered to counsel her as well, according to investigators. Instead of taking the victim to a counseling session, Hopper took the teen to his home, where he gave her alcohol and sexually assaulted her, Howard said.
When Hopper took the girl home, she told her mother, who called police and took the girl to the hospital, prosecutors said.
Hopper spent two weeks in jail in November 2011, but was free on bond when his trial began this week. After hearing testimony from the victim Tuesday, Hopper never returned to court after a lunch break, the DA said. A bench warrant has been issued for his arrest.
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