Charlottesville woman plotted to molest 8-year-old girl at Virginia hotel: DOJ

Content Warning: This article contains details of a plot to sexually abuse an underage girl. Viewer discretion is advised.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) -- A Charlottesville woman was sentenced to over a decade in prison after she plotted to molest an 8-year-old girl at a Virginia hotel.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), 46-year-old Eleanor Hunton Hoppe of Charlottesville was sentenced to 135 months in prison -- or just over 11 years -- for distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

These charges stem from Hoppe's interactions with an undercover law enforcement officer on a fetish website where, according to court documents, "people meet, discuss and trade original
images depicting the sexual abuse of children and links containing [CSAM]."

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In late February 2023, Hoppe began chatting with the undercover officer on this website. She said she was a mother and that she wanted to discuss "taboo parenting," court documents state. The undercover officer then told her about his fictional 8-year-old daughter.

What followed were several exchanges wherein 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 state.

Throughout this period, Hoppe sent the undercover officer images and videos depicting child sexual abuse.

Hoppe and the undercover officer discussed plans for her to visit him and carry out this sexual abuse.

"While still discussing the plan to travel to D.C. to sexually abuse the UC’s purported 8-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.'"

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On March 16, 2023, the two finalized arrangements for Hoppe to travel to a hotel in the Warrenton area of Fauquier County for this sexual abuse. According to court documents, Hoppe believed that the two would proceed to sexually abuse the undercover officer's daughter together.

When she arrived at the hotel, Hoppe was met and arrested by law enforcement. Court documents state that she waived her Miranda rights and told authorities of her intentions as well as her distribution of 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 pleaded guilty to distributing CSAM as part of a plea agreement in April.

Per sentencing documents, Hoppe grew up in Richmond, has two children and describes herself as a "soccer mom." Those same documents claim that her crimes were caused by medication she was prescribed for restless leg syndrome, which induced "hypersexuality" and a "shift in sexual interests."

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Upon completion of her 135-month sentence, Hoppe will be under supervised release for 10 years, according to the DOJ. She will also have to register as a sex offender for a minimum of 25 years.