WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
Following a preliminary hearing Wednesday in St. Joseph County District Court, it was decided that the case of a former Sturgis firefighter charged with criminal sexual conduct will be heard in Circuit Court.
Judge Jeff Middleton ruled that the case against Joshua Snyder move on to the next level on two counts of fourth-degree CSC. The charges stem from a relationship Snyder allegedly had with a 16-year-old Sturgis High School student.
He was initially charged with one count each of second-, third- and fourth-degree CSC.
The victim testified for nearly two hours Wednesday, saying she was 13 when she met Snyder through a friendship with his daughter.
Snyder’s attorney, Peter Samouris, reminded that the age of consensual intercourse is 16 – the victim’s age when the incident allegedly occurred in August.
