Homeschooling’s 

Invisible Children

Daughter of Arletha and Anthony Hopkins

Content note: Case narratives include descriptions of severe violence inflicted on children, including abuse and neglect, sexual violence, torture, and murder, as well as mentions of suicide and domestic violence. They also include photos of victims and perpetrators of violence.

anthony hopkins
The daughter of Arletha Hopkins was repeatedly raped by her stepfather Rev. Anthony Hopkins, a traveling evangelist, starting in 2001 when she was 11 and continuing until she ran away from home at age 19. When Arletha discovered the abuse, Anthony murdered her and forced her daughter to help him hide her body. Anthony continued to rape his stepdaughter and when she escaped in July 2008 she was pregnant with his child. The girl’s seven siblings (six of whom were Anthony’s biological children) were not abused. The girl had been pulled out of school in fifth grade to be homeschooled by Anthony, and he also homeschooled the other children. When he began raping his stepdaughter, he used Bible stories to convince her it was normal.

The Hopkinses originally lived in Whatley, GA, but moved quickly to Jackson, AL where the girl attended school and the first rape occurred. After she was pulled from school the family moved to Mobile, AL, then New Orleans, Louisiana, then back to Mobile where Arletha was murdered December 4, 2004. Arletha’s body was first buried in Jackson, then Anthony forced the girl to help him move her mother’s body to a freezer in their Mobile home, where it remained until 2008. Arletha had given birth to her eighth child on November 21, 2004; Anthony told people that his wife had died in childbirth. She was never reported missing.

The abuse came to light when the girl reported it first to a minister she knew, then to police. Hopkins was found guilty of murder, sodomy, rape, incest and sexual abuse. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Date: December 4, 2004; July 28, 2008
Location:
Jackson, Alabama; Mobile, Alabama; Wadley, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana

Documents: Date:
Man Arrested for Incest and Murder 07-29-2008
Preacher killed wife, stuffed body in freezer, police say 07-31-2008
Preacher, Prophet, Murder Suspect: a Man Accused of Killing His Wife, Storing Her in a Freezer 08-10-2008
Justice for Arletha! When Did We Stop Caring? 08-13-2008
Victim, when asked about her Mother: “Momma? She’s in the freezer.” 01-27-2009
“Jane” HOPKINS – 11 yo (2001) – Mobile AL 03-24-2010
Stepdaughter: Accused Preacher Held Hammer Night Her Mother Was Killed 04-10-2010
Full Story: Jury finds preacher guilty of murdering wife, sexually abusing stepdaughter 04-10-2010
Ala. preacher gets life for killing mother of his six children and hiding her dead body in freezer 05-21-2010
Preacher Wife Murder: Arletha Hopkins vs Anthony Hopkins 05-21-2010
Pastor Gets Life Sentence for Murdering Wife 10-23-2010
Update: Arletha Hopkins murder *Husband, Anthony Jujuan Hopkins convicted of killing his wife, molesting stepdaughter; sentenced to life in prison plus 51 years* 06-11-2012