A Virginia mom-of-two was sentenced to serve over a decade behind bars after she was caught distributing child pornography in a disturbing plot to molest an eight-year-old girl.
Eleanor Hunton Hoppe, 46, ex-wife of federal judge Joel Hoppe, pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of child pornography as part of a plea agreement requiring her to serve 135 months in prison and 10 years of supervised release.
In addition, she will have to register as a sex offender for a minimum period of 25 years, according to the US Attorney’s Office, District of Columbia.
According to court documents, in late February 2023, an undercover law enforcement officer encountered the high-profile mom on a fetish website where individuals discuss their sexual interest in children and exchange child sexual abuse material.
She allegedly used the screenname ‘titotori’ and started an email chat with another user, who unbeknownst to her, was an undercover FBI Task Force officer based at the Washington DC field office and operating out of a satellite location.
While on the site, Hoppe said she was a mother and that she wanted to discuss ‘taboo parenting’, court documents state.
The undercover officer responded he was the father of a young girl, at which point Hoppe directed the agent to a social media app that encrypts messages.
There, she used the name ‘tori4fun’ and in a series of messages starting February 23 she revealed she lived in Charlottesville.
What followed were several exchanges where Hoppe described the sexual abuse she wished to put the undercover officer’s daughter through in explicit detail.
She repeatedly stated she ‘wanted to assist the [undercover officer] in introducing his daughter to sexual activity,’ according to court documents.
‘On March 8, 2023, while discussing the sexual abuse that she intended to perpetrate against the [undercover officer’s] daughter, [Hoppe] wrote the following: “A great [thing] to do is to wake her up by trying new things … that hazy/ dreamlike state is perfect to introduce a variety of new things … especially with someone to help with positioning Her body and then you let her fall right back to sleep,”‘ court documents read.
Just days later, March 16, 2023, Hoppe arranged to have the undercover officer bring his daughter from D.C. to a motel in Warrenton, Virginia, where she would meet them to sexually abuse the child.
‘While still discussing the plan to travel to D.C. to sexually abuse the UC’s purported eight-year-old daughter, [Hoppe] told the [undercover officer,] “If I were you, I’d start building up Thursday telling her that you know it’s gonna be super fun we’re gonna hang out with an old friend of yours,”‘ court documents state.
‘It’s going to be like the best night ever blah blah blah and then once I get there, obviously, it will take a slight turn,’ the documents continue.
But, to her surprise, police arrested the Charlottesville-native when she arrived at the hotel.
Court documents state that she waived her Miranda rights and told authorities of her intentions as well as her distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), saying she ‘did it so to keep the [undercover officer] talking’.
‘During an inventory search of [Hoppe’s] car, law enforcement found a pink children’s bag that contained lubricant, silk undergarments and a pink silk robe,’ court documents state.
Hoppe later pleaded guilty to distributing CSAM as part of a plea agreement in April.
Hoppe grew up in Richmond, has two teen-aged daughters and describes herself as a ‘soccer mom’, as per sentencing documents.
She is also the granddaughter of Eppa Hunton IV, former head of Hunton & Williams, now Hunton Andrews Kurth, one of Virginia’s largest law firms.
The court documents also claim that her crimes were caused by medication she was prescribed for restless leg syndrome, which induced ‘hypersexuality’ and a ‘shift in sexual interests’.
The Daily Mail reported in April 2023, that her ex-husband, federal judge Joel Hoppe, was fighting for full custody of their daughters then-aged 10 and 12, citing the shocking allegations against the mom in his legal documents.
The ex spouses had previously agreed to joint physical custody in May 2021 after a messy divorce battle – during which the magistrate judge accused his ex-wife of hunting for sex with other men and women.
But, just seven days after Hoppe was arrested at the hotel, the judge filed in Albemarle Circuit Court, Charlottesville, to reopen their divorce paperwork and obtain full custody of the two young girls.
His filing states: ‘A Final Order of Divorce was entered on May 11, 2021 resolving the issues of spousal support and child support. A final Custody and Visitation Order was entered on March 8, 2022.
‘The defendant was taking into federal custody on March 16, 2023 on felony criminal charges involving minors.
‘The criminal charges, the facts underlying the charges, and the consequences of the charges constitute a material change in circumstances regarding custody, visitation, spousal support and child support.’
The judge then asked for the previous arrangement to be modified and has since successfully gained full custody of their two girls.
Eleanor Hunton Hoppe grew up in a magnificent five bedroom, five bathroom Colonial Revival-style spread from the early 1900s in Westhampton, one of Richmond’s most desirable neighborhoods.
She was privately educated at the city’s prestigious St Catherine’s School – an Episcopal establishment for girls – and went on to obtain a BA in psychology from the University of Virginia.
She can trace her family’s links in Virginia back to Eppa Hunton I, who was born in 1789 and was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
One of his sons, Eppa Hunton II, brought the family even more prominence. He was a lawyer who rose to become Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War and later served as a Democrat in the US House of Representatives and then the US Senate.
It was his son, Eppa Hunton III, who co-founded the law firm Munton, Hunton, Williams & Anderson which is now known as Hunton, Andrews, Kurth, and employs more than 900 attorneys in 20 offices.
Hoppe’s 75-year-old father used an email address from the firm when he had his daughter’s 2019 charge dismissed.
The accused mom boasts of working with several organizations involving young people and child advocacy on her LinkedIn page.
She spent two years with non-profit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Central Blue Ridge in Charlottesville, a support service helping local young people. The organization told us: ‘We are deeply saddened to hear of this report involving an individual who formerly worked with our organization.
‘Upon learning of the charges, our organization proactively reached out to law enforcement officials to share Ms. Hoppe’s employment history with our organization. The safety and well-being of the children we serve is our highest priority.’
Hoppe also spent a year at non-profit ReadyKids in the city, which offers counseling, family support and early learning opportunities.
She was an ‘early learning specialist… and in charge of all early learning playgroups’ in three locations according to her LinkedIn biography.
ReadyKids also said it is distraught to hear of the charges.
‘As an organization that prioritizes child safety, we can confirm that Ms. Hoppe passed all required background checks, including criminal history and child protective services, and was employed in a program that worked exclusively with groups of parents present with their children.
‘We strongly condemn any and all acts of violence against children and know the trauma it can cause. Our hearts and thoughts are with all children that have been affected by these horrible crimes.’
Hoppe also said she worked for two years from 2000 for Virginia’s Office of the Commonwealth Attorney as a victim-witness advocate, offering ‘resources and referrals to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and violent crimes’.
Additionally the mom was a formerly a volunteer at St Marks Memorial Church in Charlottesville, which is affiliated with her alma mater.
A 2018 posting on the church’s website reveals she was the coordinator for the Fall Kick-Off Picnic, which included ‘dessert games for kids, face painting and more!’