A Pierce County man was arrested for child sex offenses and kidnapping Sunday by deputies from the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office after a 911 call about a missing child.
William C. Snavely, 44, was arrested and is currently detained in the county jail on three counts of first-degree kidnapping, three counts of third-degree rape of a child, possession of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and two counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
The sheriff’s office was first alerted when the child’s parent called 911, reporting that the child was missing, said Chief of Special Services Paul Logan. The parent found messages on the child’s phone from an unknown person talking about meeting, Logan said, which was passed on as all available personnel responded.
“That’s one of the red flags that the responding deputies use to know that this isn’t your normal juvenile problem,” Logan said. “Every available deputy went into the area now that they had a name and description of the vehicle. By doing so, they kind of had it locked down. There were only so many ways out.”
Deputies located Snavely in a vehicle attempting to leave the area at high speed, Logan said, stopping him and then contacting him. Snavely’s reasons for being in the area did not seem truthful, Logan said.
“His statements at the time were not plausible,” Logan said. “He gave an account that didn’t seem plausible to the deputies, so they detained him.”
The victim was located shortly after that walking down the road, Logan said. They were interviewed, and other possible victims identified, Logan said.
“Based on the initial interview with the victim, another possible victim was identified, who was later interviewed,” Logan said. “Once all the primary players had been interviewed, there was probable cause for the litany of charges.”
Rapid, correct actions taken by those involved led to the quick arrest of the suspect, Logan said.
“So many things worked for us. The quick response by the parents, the quick response by the patrol deputies that were out working the road. Their ability to recognize the signs and do everything right,” Logan said. “It was holiday weekend and the detectives and the patrol guys worked extra on this, this weekend. Once it started, they worked it till it was done.”
The sheriff’s office executed a search warrant in Pierce County Wednesday evening as part of the ongoing investigation, Logan said.
While cases of suspects driving into the county for the purposes of preying on children isn’t common, Logan said those who would seek to hurt children in this fashion are in and out of Grays Harbor.
“The broader case is we had an adult male from out of the county using the internet — using sites that are common for predators to use to connect with underage kids,” Logan said. “They use those issues to create a connect and gain some trust with a kid and victimize them.”
The internet has created new avenues that those who would prey on children can use to communicate with their victims, Logan said. For parents, the best defense is to communicate with their child, and to know what apps are on their phones and how they work.
“Communicate with the children. Adult monitoring access of the cell phones. Which apps and why do they have them,” Logan said. “Letting them know there’s people out there that are trying to be their friends for these purposes, and that they are not their friends.”
A telltale can be apps that are out of place; apps that offer encrypted communications that don’t belong on the phone of a child, Logan said. The app in this case was something no one in the sheriff’s office was familiar with, Logan said.
