Most wanted list

Man added to wanted list
Police searching for ex-chess teacher convicted of sexually assaulting child
BY NATE TAYLOR • October 5, 2008

Police continue to search for a former Fort Collins chess teacher convicted of sexually assaulting a child.

Robert Snyder, 58, was released from jail and was supposed to register Aug. 24 for his 10-year probation sentence, as well as register as a sex offender, but he never showed up.

A warrant was issued immediately for his arrest, and he’s now on the city’s most-wanted list.

Snyder is also a world-renowned chess player, coach and author. He is a former western U.S. chess champion and qualified for the semifinals of the world correspondence chess championship.

Fort Collins police have an active investigation into Snyder’s whereabouts, police spokeswoman Rita Davis said.

Snyder’s probation requirements would have put him under global positioning system, or GPS, monitoring.

Snyder’s former attorney, Fort Collins lawyer Andy Gavaldon, told the judge at Snyder’s sentencing that Snyder accepted responsibility for his actions and knew he would have to deal with the consequences.

“I’m disappointed to hear that,” Gavaldon said Friday when told by the Coloradoan that Snyder had disappeared. “I knew he was serving his sentence and didn’t even know his release date.”

Gavaldon said he stopped being paid as Snyder’s attorney the day of his sentencing.

Snyder was not deemed a sexually violent predator by the state and no announcement was made about his release from the detention center, as was the case with two sexually violent predators that were released Monday.

Fort Collins resident Diane Fromme said she hosted a foreign exchange student who was under Snyder’s tutelage and traveled with him to San Francisco for a chess tournament in 2006.

“He seemed to enjoy the club and never mentioned anything suspect or unusual,” Fromme said of the exchange student. “Snyder might be completely reformed, but the fact that he’s gone missing leads you to believe that he’s not.”

Source: http://www.coloradoan.com/