An elderly Margate man suffering from lung disease was arrested this month after allegedly admitting he has molested young girls “since he was a boy."
Murry Snider, 81, was charged with lewd or lascivious behavior with two girls, and Broward Sheriff's Office investigators have tentatively identified six more victims.
“[He] could not recall how many different girls he had victimized, but he said it was something that he did whenever he had the opportunity,” wrote an investigating officer in Snider's arrest warrant.
The investigation began in May when a Sebring teenager told her mother that Snider had molested her between the ages of 6 and 9, during a three-year-period the girl spent weekends with a friend at the Executive Economy Lodge in Pompano Beach, where Snider worked in maintenance.
According to the arrest warrant, the two girls told police Snider would have them call him “Grandpa” and invite them to his room to watch television or movies before molesting them.
Detectives also uncovered a slew of possible victims, all of whom were between 6 and 12 at the time of the alleged molestations. They also found that in 1997, a report was filed with the St. Petersburg Police Department alleging that Snider sexually abused a 7-year-old girl. The victim told police in August that her father would drop her off at Snider’s home to be babysat, where on more than one occasion she was molested. Charges were never filed.
Snider, who is suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, was arrested on Aug 14. Police say he also admitted molesting a young relative, which caused him to become estranged from his family.