A former Torrance High School wrestling coach who fondled students while pretending to give them skin checks, watched others while they showered and massaged others was sentenced Friday to 69 years to life in prison.
Jurors convicted 48-year-old Thomas Joseph Snider Oct. 13 of 26 felony counts of committing a lewd act on a child of 14 or 15, three felony counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 and eight misdemeanor counts of child molesting.
During his sentencing hearing, victims’ relatives lashed out at Snider, with one mother saying she would only consider justice being served “if I could kill him myself.”
The aunt of another victim said Snider worked as a coach, so “he was able to have full access and play out his sick fantasies.”
Deputy District Attorney Juree Kim read a statement from another victim’s mother.
“I will never forgive you,” the mother wrote in her statement. “You are an evil and vile excuse of a human being. You’re a monster that hunted and abused our children like prey in the wild. You deserve every ounce of suffering and pain coming your way and I pray you die slowly and that your soul burns in hell.”
The case involved 25 students between the ages of 13 and 16 who were inspected by Snider under the guise of checking for skin diseases, according to evidence presented at his trial. During the inspections, Snider had the teens take off their clothing and would sometimes touch their genitals, prosecutors said.
Snider also watched students shower and massaged several of them, according to evidence presented at his trial. School officials became aware of Snider’s conduct after students told opposing team members about the skin checks, the prosecutors said.
Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold said Snider abused the trust placed in him by students as their coach.
“The last thing I want to say to you is shame on you for what you’ve done,” Arnold told Snider. He then turned to sheriff’s deputies in the courtroom and said, “Take him out of here.”
Snider, who is married with three daughters, was initially placed on paid administrative leave, then on unpaid leave after he was arrested in Torrance in April 2015.
— City News Service