A Torrance High School teacher and wrestling coach was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of committing lewd acts involving children.
Thomas Joseph Snider, 47, surrendered to detectives this morning and faces nearly three-dozen felony lewd act counts and eight misdemeanor counts, said Torrance police Sgt. Paul Kranke.
Snider is charged with 33 felony counts of lewd act upon a child and eight misdemeanor counts of child molesting, according to the criminal complaint.
The felony and misdemeanor charges involve 25 alleged victims who ranged in age from 13 to 16, according to Ricardo Santiago of the District Attorney’s Office.
The criminal complaint alleges that the crimes occurred between September 2013 and this February.
Snider has been on administrative leave from the school district while the police investigation was conducted, Kranke said.
Detectives began their investigation in January “after allegations of sexual misconduct had been made by several students,” Kranke said.
“Torrance detectives conducted a lengthy and detailed investigation before the case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for review,” Kranke said.
Snider was being held on $900,000 bail, according to the sheriff’s department.
It was not immediately clear when he would be arraigned.
— City News Service