UPDATE: Suspected Rapist in Police Custody

A Berks County man wanted on a rape charge in Schuylkill County has been apprehended by police.

According to information from State Police-Schuylkill Haven, Christopher Michael Snyder, 34, of Leesport, was taken into custody on Monday.

Snyder is accused of engaging in sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old Pottsville girl during the overnight hours of May 8.

Police say Snyder waived extradition was arraigned before District Magistrate David Rossi on Monday and remanded to Schuylkill County Prison on $75,000 cash bail.

Investigation Details

The investigation into this alleged rape began on May 10 when a member of Pottsville Police contacted State Police.

Pottsville Det. Joseph Welsh said he’d received a report from a city girl’s mother of an alleged rape. The rape reportedly happened at a house party, the mother told police.

Later that day, the reported victim was interviewed by State Police at the Schuylkill Haven barracks. The girl said she’d been raped by an unknown male at a location in Wayne Township, Schuylkill County.

She showed police a photo of her suspected rapist’s Facebook profile, police say in court documents obtained by The Canary. The name on the profile was listed as Chris M. Snyder, a white man with facial hair who “appeared to be middle-aged.”

The reported rape victim was directed to a nearby hospital for an exam and evidence of the alleged assault was collected. That evidence was sent to State Police-Bethlehem Regional Laboratory for analysis.

A forensic interview was conducted with the reported rape victim and it revealed that on May 7, the sister of the victim got a call from another minor friend about hanging out with her and an unidentified man at her boyfriend’s house.

The reported victim and her sister were then picked up by that minor friend and a man only known as Chris at the time, who drove a gray sedan. Chris then drove to the Sheetz store in Pottsville and purchased alcohol before going to a home in Wayne Township.

At this house party, the group drank the alcohol and smoked weed. The reported rape victim told police that during the party, “Chris” would repeatedly say that he wanted to be in a relationship with her.

The party continued into the early morning hours of May 8 and as people began falling asleep, that’s when Chris is alleged to have sexually assaulted the victim.

At about 5 a.m., Chris is alleged to have driven his reported victim and her sister back to Pottsville. Later that day, police say Chris learned the true age of his reported victim and they began using Snapchat to carry on a conversation. .

That same day, police allege, Chris arrived at her home with a contraceptive that is designed to prevent a pregnancy.

On May 10, the mother of the reported victim learned what had happened and reported it to Pottsville Police.

State Police say they served a search warrant on Snap Inc., the creators of the Snapchat app, and were able to obtain information about the conversations had between the reported victim and her attacker.

One of the accounts for which they obtained records was for the username ‘bggchris’ and that its registered user was named Christopher Snyder. The account was verified with Snyder’s phone number and date of birth, June 24, 1989.

On Sept. 6, police say they received completed lab results and DNA testing turned up a hit for a Christopher M. Snyder, 34.

Snyder is now facing 2 felony rape charges, 1 felony charge of statutory sexual assault, and 1 felony count of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, in addition to a host of misdemeanor offenses.

He’s due in court again for a Preliminary Hearing on Dec. 14 before Rossi.