Mother thought they were cuddling. Then her daughter said the retired cop molested her

A former Fresno police officer pleaded not guilty Tuesday to five felony charges of committing a lewd act with a child younger than 14 years old involving two alleged victims more than a decade apart.

A criminal complaint accuses Randall “Randy” Snow, 69, of molesting one girl in 2016 and another girl in 2003 and 2004. They are relatives of Snow.

Snow wore a red jail jumpsuit and shackles on his hands and legs during his first appearance in Fresno County Superior Court.

Defense attorney Richard Esquivel asked Judge Dennis Peterson to release Snow on his own recognizance, noting that Snow retired from the Fresno Police Department after suffering a stroke in the late 1990s and was a Vietnam veteran with no criminal record. “He has led an exemplary life,” Esquivel told the judge.

Peterson, however, denied the motion. Instead, Peterson signed an order that prohibits Snow from having contact with the two alleged victims. But the judge also allowed Snow to be considered as a candidate for the court’s pretrial release program; a court official will question Snow in jail and recommend whether Snow should be released on conditions such as an ankle monitor or on reduced bail.

Currently, Snow’s bail is $120,000. The recommendation could be made at Snow’s next hearing Feb. 7.

Snow, a resident of Clovis, turned himself in at the Clovis police station lobby Friday after he learned a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

He faces three felony charges of committing a lewd act with girl younger than 14 between July 1 to Sept. 18 last year. He also faces a felony charge of a lewd act with girl younger than 14 from Aug. 1, 2003, to June 30, 2004. He also is charged with forcible lewd act on that minor during the same time period.

The alleged victims are identified in court papers as Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II.

An affidavit in support of the warrant to arrest Snow spells out the allegations:

The mother of a 9-year-old girl told police in September that Snow molested her daughter and also molested her when she was young.

The girl told police that Snow had molested her multiple times. But she also expressed sadness because she liked Snow.

The mother said she and her daughter had lived with Snow for about three years and she had seen her daughter “cuddle” with Snow on a number of occasions, “but never witnessed any inappropriate touching.”

Then on Sept. 17, the mother said, her daughter broke down and cried and told her that Snow had “touched her when they were cuddling.” The girl said Snow allegedly touched her vagina over her underwear.

The mother then told police that the same thing happened to her when she was in the seventh grade. She said she told her mother, who talked to Snow. After that, it never happened again, the mother of the 9-year-old told police.

The next day, on Sept. 18, the mother of the 9-year-old told police she confronted Snow about her daughter. At first, Snow “was very nervous, was shaking and would not look at her in the eye,” she told police.

After talking a bit, Snow allegedly admitted that he had touched the 9-year-old a few times since the summer. “He told her that nothing else happened and that he was trying to distance himself from (the girl) because of it,” the affidavit says.

The woman then confronted Snow about touching her when she was a child. The affidavit said Snow never admitted touching the woman when she was a child, but mentioned that “children never forget.”

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 2:54 PM with the headline "Mother thought they were cuddling. Then her daughter said the retired cop molested her."