A nationally ranked chess player must stand trial on charges that he sexually abused an 11-year-old boy and two 13-year-old male chess students, a Fort Collins district judge ruled Monday.
Robert Snyder, 51, a chess prodigy who started a school for young students 22 years ago, was arrested in September and charged with assaulting two of the boys. After media reports of the arrest, another boy claimed he had been fondled, and Snyder was charged with the third case in November.
Snyder faces up to life in prison if convicted on four counts of sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of trust. He’s also charged with sexual assault with a pattern of abuse (multiple incidents), which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. Snyder remains free on $250,000 bond until his trial, which hasn’t been scheduled.
“These are false accusations,” said Snyder’s attorney, Andy Gavaldon. “There’s much more to this case than what came out today.”
Snyder grew up in Los Angeles, learning chess on his own when he was 12, according to his website, which includes photos of Snyder with actors Will Smith, whom Snyder taught, and Nicholas Cage, whose son learned from Snyder. At 18, he was accorded the title of “national chess master.” Ten years later, Snyder founded “Chess for Juniors,” a school for teaching competitive chess. That same year, 1983, he was charged with but acquitted of four counts of sexual assault on a minor in Orange County, Calif., according to published reports.
On Monday, Fort Collins police investigator Kim Cochran said social workers had contacted Fort Collins police in 2003 because the 11-year-old had told them Snyder had assaulted him twice during the fall of 2002. The boy said Snyder performed oral sex on him against his will during a sleepover at Snyder’s house.
The accusations surfaced during a therapy session in May 2003.
A large component of Snyder’s chess school consisted of weekend tournaments, during which many students slept over at Snyder’s Fort Collins house. According to Cochran, a 13-year-old Loveland boy spent June 24-26, 2005, at Snyder’s, along with seven other boys and two adults, who slept in other bedrooms. The boy told investigators he spent the first night in Snyder’s bedroom on a bean bag chair and that Snyder performed oral sex on him. Assistant District Attorney Cliff Riedel asked Cochran what happened the second night.
The victim “said the events of the second night were identical to the first,” Cochran answered.
Cochran testified that the victim’s father recorded a phone call with Snyder during which Snyder admitted that the boy had slept in his bedroom but denied any sexual contact.
Cochran also said that DNA taken from the boy’s skin and underwear couldn’t positively identify Snyder but didn’t eliminate him, either.
The samples ruled out all but 0.5 percent of the population.
Judge David Williams ordered the case to move to a trial.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at 303-820-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com.
