Booking photo for Brendan J. Snider (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for an 18-year-old Paradise man charged with raping a teenage girl during a camping trip last summer. Brendan J. Snider was arrested earlier this month, booked into the Cache County Jail and later released on pretrial supervision.
Snider participated in a virtual hearing in 1st District Court Monday afternoon, appearing by web conference. He was previously charged with rape, a first-degree felony.
According to an arrest affidavit, the rape was reported to law enforcement in October. The alleged victim told detectives how she had been camping with friends, including Snider, in Left Hand Fork Canyon. The group had been drinking earlier in the evening.
The girl said later that night she had gotten up to go to the bathroom. As she walked away from the campsite, Snider followed her. He pushed her up against a tree and raped her, while she resisted and told him “no” repeatedly.
Detectives questioned Snider. He admitted that he had been camping with the alleged victim and acknowledged to drinking and becoming intoxicated. However, he denied raping the girl, claiming it was consensual.
During Monday’s hearing, public defender Joseph Saxton asked for the preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will present their evidence in the case, and a judge will determine whether or not to bind Snider over for trial. He said the hearing would likely last around an hour.
Judge Brandon Maynard scheduled the hearing for Jan. 4.
will@cvradio.com