California teacher James Hooker has left his family and his position at a Modesto high school to live with his 18-year-old former student.
The 41-year-old educator walked away from his wife and children and resigned from his role as a 15-year business and computer teacher last week after a police investigation was launched into his relationship with a student. The 18-year-old, Jordan Powers, was once one of Hooker's business students at James Enochs High School.
The two now share an apartment, and Hooker is on paid administrative leave from the school.
"In making our choice, we've hurt a lot of people," Hooker told The Modesto Bee. "We keep asking ourselves, 'Do we make everyone else happy or do we follow our hearts?'"
Hooker maintains that he only started dating Powers after she turned 18, but the teen's mother says their relationship began when her daughter was underage, and doesn't believe the claim that the two were not physical before then.
"She looked up to him," mother Tammie Powers told ABC News. "[He was in the] position of an educator, [and you] don't abuse your student. Period. She's still in high school. She still lives at home. She has a curfew…. That's not OK."
Students at Enochs High told KOVR they also believe Hooker and Powers' relationship began early.
"She was 14 when they first got together," one student said. "That's pretty disgusting, a guy like an old man would try and go with a really young girl."
Exactly when the relationship began is at the center of the police investigation. One of Hooker's children is a junior at Enochs High -- just one year younger than Powers.
Hooker and Powers first met when the teen was a freshman at Enochs High, and they say feelings for each other only developed through spending time together during and after school and through phone calls and text messages.
"[He's] my best friend," Jordan Powers told ABC News of Hooker. "I mean, he's more than just a lover."
Mother Tammie Powers said she discovered 8,000 text messages between the two, as well as late-night calls and emails that were sent when her daughter was still a minor.
"That's pursuit, in my opinion, with some type of intent," she told KXTV.
Tammie Powers has also waged a very public Facebook war against Hooker. Her profile includes posts like an image of the teacher with the caption:
This is a picture of JAMES HOOKER from Enochs High School....a perverted man in his forties, who has taken advantage of a little girl. Now, James if you're reading this while you have my daughter----you better believe everyone will know you're a sick child molester....
Hooker is prohibited from contacting Enochs students and staff, but tells The Modesto Bee that he is confident he will be cleared of accusations that a physical relationship occurred with Powers when she was a minor.
"There's no evidence of that. There's no proof of that. It didn't exist," Hooker said. "I've been portrayed as a monster through all of this. I'm not a monster. I'm not any different than I've always been."
Jordan Powers has stopped taking classes at Enochs High, but is completing her senior year through independent study and plans to walk at her graduation in May.
Watch Good Morning America's interview with the couple below.