Child porn charge added to felonies facing Petaluma woman

A Petaluma woman charged with sexually molesting a developmentally disabled woman faces an additional felony charge after investigators found child pornography pictures on her cellphone, according to Petaluma police.

Tawnya Lynn Hopper, 42, remained in custody Friday in Sonoma County Jail in lieu of $600,000 bail - raised from her initial bail of $250,000. Hopper is due back in court next Friday morning to enter a plea involving four felony charges and one misdemeanor.

The woman is suspected of a recent incident of forced oral copulation involving a developmentally disabled woman who was unable to give consent. Other charges included a sexual assault felony stemming from the same oral copulation allegation and abuse of a developmentally disabled person, Petaluma Police Sgt. Ed Crosby said Friday. The misdemeanor charge involved possessing drug paraphernalia.

The child pornography charge came after investigators searched Hopper’s phone following her arrest in November and allegedly found more than one photo involving child pornography. Crosby declined to give further details about the photos or say how many were found, citing sensitivities about the still-evolving case.

Hopper’s arrest followed a tip to Petaluma detectives from FBI agents who have been investigating an extensive child pornography and pedophilia case. That case started in San Francisco earlier in the year and so far has involved the arrest of a San Francisco woman, a Novato man and a couple in the United Kingdom.

The investigation into the Novato man turned up Hopper’s name and a dozen city detectives and FBI agents searched her home and arrested her on Nov. 17, Crosby said.

This week, the investigation continued, and a Petaluma detective worked with FBI agents at an East Bay lab, where the agents were combing through the woman’s computers and electronic devices to see if there is any connection between Hopper and the larger case, Crosby said.

According to court documents, Hopper was being represented by the Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com?or Twitter@rossmannreport.