Sexual assault suspect sought
WAYNESBURG – State police are searching for a Waynesburg man in the alleged rape and sexual assault of a girl over the past seven years. Harold Dewayne Snyder, 41, was charged last month with 22 different offenses, including rape of a child, rape, aggravated indecent assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault and corruption of minors.
Trooper Mark Schmelzlen indicated in a criminal complaint that the girl, now 14, said the sexual assaults started when she was as young as 7 and continued until Sept. 14, when she told people what had been occurring.
The girl told police that the abuse first began when they lived in New Mexico, and continued when they moved to Tennessee, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
It continued in Greene County, police said.
The Messenger does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.
Police said that last month, the girl told four separate adults that Snyder had been raping and sexually abusing her.
The girl’s mother took her to the hospital, and workers there called state police in Waynesburg, authorities indicated.
The girl’s mother told police that the daughter told a Greene County Children and Youth Services caseworker about the alleged abuse.
When police asked that girl what made her talk about the abuse, she reportedly said that she talked to a friend in school, and that friend encouraged her to tell a guidance counselor.
Anyone with information on Snyder’s whereabouts should call police at 724-627-6151