The federal child pornography trial of William Wellington “Billy” Hooper, 53, of Mathews began on Monday with jury selection and continued Tuesday with opening arguments and the testimony of the teenaged girls who were the alleged victims. The older sister of one of the girls, who reported the matter to police, testified as well.
The trial, which is being held in the Richmond Federal Courthouse of the U.S. Eastern District of Virginia, is expected to continue through the remainder of this week, possibly into Saturday. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, members of the public are not able to be in the same courtroom as the proceedings, and must instead watch on monitors set up in a courtroom on a different floor. As of Tuesday, the defendant was not captured by camera, and the only trial participants who were shown were the judge, the prosecution and defense attorneys, and one federal Department of Homeland Security forensic witness. Other trial participants could only be heard.
The three...