High-risk sex offender living in Willits area after release from prison

Convicted sex offender Jonathan Michael Hoppner is now living in the Willits area after being released from prison for assaulting two parole caseworkers last year, authorities said.

Hoppner, 24, registered as a sex offender with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office on May 5 after being released on parole from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said Lt. Shannon Barney.

The Sheriff’s Office made the public announcement because he was determined to be a “high-risk” sex offender, Barney said.

Hoppner, who is developmentally disabled, was sentenced on March 9 in Sonoma County Superior Court to two years in prison for assaulting two parole caseworkers who were checking on him at a Santa Rosa hotel in April 2016. He served less than two months in prison as a result of the credit he had built up while waiting almost a year in jail.

Hoppner had previously been convicted seven times for sexual battery during a three-year period, with his victims ranging in age from 15 to 50. After his release from jail for a 2015 conviction, Hoppner had difficulty finding a permanent place to live as Sonoma County police agencies issued a series of public warnings that he was checking into local hotels. He was kicked out of a Petaluma hotel and then one in Rohnert Park as a result of the public attention.