TUSD Should Provide Answers After Wrestling Coach Scandal

Last April news broke that the Torrance High Wrestling coach was arrested on several counts of inappropriately touching a minor.  Lurid details have emerged over the last few days as victims took the stand to testify at a preliminary hearing.  In one article some of the victim’s stories are related as follows:

“All night he was raping me, doing everything you could think of when it comes to sex,”

“He told me he was going to pull down my underwear to see if I had anything on my butt,” the boy said, adding the coach touched his buttocks”

“Snider, the man said, pulled open the elastic waistband on his underwear, put two fingers inside, and touched his scrotum and penis”.

In another article published Friday more of the victim’s stories came to light:

“A 15-year-old boy said the coach told him to go into a storage room alone when he was 13. Snider told him to take off his clothes.  He pointed a flashlight toward my body. He told me to lift my penis and my scrotum,” the boy said. “He pointed a flashlight to it. He inspected it.”

“On another occasion … Snider asked six boys to stand in line naked. One at a time, he checked their private areas. The boy said he felt “grossed out and weirded out” when the coach asked him to move his genitals while he stood naked in front of the other boys.”

“One boy said the coach told him to sit naked on a bench while he massaged his hamstring. Another boy said the coach asked him to sit in the nude with his legs propped up onto the coach’s legs while he massaged the tight muscle in his thigh. He massaged my thigh and worked his way up to my inner thigh,” the boy said.”

Most of the stomach churning incidents appeared to have occurred on school property while the wrestling coach was under the employ of TUSD. Yet, despite these troubling circumstances the community has heard very little from TUSD officials.

When the allegations first came to light due to the coach’s arrest, TUSD spokeswoman Tammy Khan made a brief statement in which she said that “Snider is on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the proceedings” and that “as this is a personnel and legal matter, the district will have no further comment pending the outcome of the court proceedings.”

Is that brief statement sufficient to quell parents concerns? There are at least 26 victims with allegations that stem back many years.  Are we to believe that none of these victims ever told their parents or someone at the school?

One news report indicates TUSD took action to suspend Snider only after the police began an investigation last January when athletes from another school told their coach what they had heard from Torrance wrestlers. Perhaps that was first the time TUSD had ever heard of any complaints against Snider. One victim, however, did testify that he notified TUSD officials 8 years ago about one of the incidents.

This raises the question of how much TUSD knew or should have known. When did TUSD first hear about these incidents?  Did TUSD ever receive any complaints about this coach?  If so, when and what was the nature of the complaints? What action did TUSD take once they were informed of what was happening. What action will they take in the future to protect our kids from similar abuse?

The situation is compounded by recent news that TUSD hired an individual accused of raping a former player to coach girl’s basketball at West High. What type of background check was done on that individual?

Given the appalling nature of these incidents, the community deserves answers from TUSD.  It’s time for full disclosure. Most of the victims were only 12 to 14 year old boys at the time the alleged acts occurred.  As a community, we need to stand up for these boys and other victims that may not have had the courage to come forward. If you agree and believe TUSD should be more forthcoming with information pertaining to these incidents and what they are doing to ensure our kids are safe at school, then please sign the petition at the link below.

Petition to TUSD