High-risk sex offender arrested in Willits

A high-risk sex offender with a history of groping women and girls in Sonoma County was arrested Wednesday in Willits on suspicion of violating his parole by using social media sites frequented by minors, authorities said.

Jonathan Hoppner, 25, was booked into Mendocino County Jail, where he’s being held with no bail.

During a parole search of his Willits home in the 24100 block of Birch Place, detectives found evidence Hoppner was engaging with people on social media, violating the terms of his parole, Mendocino County sheriff’s Lt. Shannon Barney said.

Hoppner was not home during the 12:51 p.m. search, but was arrested when detectives returned about three hours later, the sheriff’s office said. The ages of the people he interacted with were unknown.

Hoppner, who’s developmentally disabled, had been convicted seven times for sexual battery during a three-year period, with victims ranging in age from 15 to 50.

He also was sentenced in March 2017 to two years in prison for assaulting two parole caseworkers who were checking on him at a Santa Rosa hotel a year earlier. He spent less than two months in prison after getting credit for time served.

Hoppner was paroled to Mendocino County in May 2017. He was arrested in July for a separate parole violation, Barney said.

You can reach Staff Writer Hannah Beausang at 707-521-5214 or hannah.beausang@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @hannahbeausang.