An elderly Margate man is behind bars after authorities say he molested at least two young girls and admitted to a detective that he had been abusing girls since he was a child.
Murry Snider, 81, was arrested Tuesday on 10 counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a child under 12, the Broward Sheriff's Office said.
Snider, who lives in the 6400 block of Brandywine Drive North, would have little girls call him "Grandpa" and invite them into his room for movies and snacks, where he would molest them, the BSO said.
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According to the BSO, detectives began investigating Snider in May after a teen in Sebring told her mother that Snider repeatedly molested her when she was between the ages of 8 and 9 from 2006 to 2009.
At the time, Snider was a maintenance man at the Executive Economy Lodge at 555 S. Federal Highway in Pompano Beach. Snider would molest her after inviting her into his room to watch movies and eat snacks, Snider's arrest affidavit say.
Another victim told Det. Eric Hendel that Snider, who was a good friend of her family, would invite her into his room to watch television. He would feed her and sometimes buy her books to read, but he would also molest her when she was 11 and 12 years old between 2005 and 2007, according to the affidavit.
Snider would have both girls call him "Grandpa," the affidavit says.
Snider told Hendel in an interview on Aug. 15 that he sexually molested a few girls while he was working and living at the Executive Economy Lodge, though he could not recall many specifics, according to the affidavit.
Snider said that he has committed similar acts against young girls since he was a boy, Hendel wrote.
"Murry Snider could not recall how many different girls he had victimized, but he said it was something that he did whenever he had the opportunity," he wrote.
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Snider "expressed his remorse for what he had done throughout his life," Hendel added in the affidavit.
The BSO said it has tentatively identified six other victims, and believes there may be more.
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Snider was born and raised in Tallahassee, Alabama, and in the 1990s lived in Williamson, Jefferson, Hardin, Panola and Orange counties in Texas. He lived in Las Vegas in 1999 then moved around Florida, living in Sebring, Clearwater, Largo, St. Petersburg and Miami.
The BSO said he has a clean criminal history except for an old prostitution charge.
Snider, who is suffering from lung disease, was being held without bond Wednesday. It was unknown whether he has an attorney.
