Man given
withheld judgment in interference
with child custody case
By GREG
MOORE
Express Staff Writer
A Fort
Bragg, Calif., man was given a withheld judgment and fined $1,500 for
helping in the apparent kidnapping of a 4-year-old Ketchum resident in a
custody dispute.
Judge
James May handed down the sentence to Forrest Snyder, 25, in 5th
District Court in Hailey on Monday.
Snyder
had pleaded guilty to felony interference with child custody, in a deal
with prosecutors in which he agreed to cooperate in locating his half
sister, Lily Thornton. Those efforts have been unsuccessful.
Lily
disappeared in June 2001 after her mother, Margot Thornton, agreed to
let Snyder’s brother, Eli Snyder, take her from Ketchum to Eugene,
Ore., to visit her father, Steve Snyder. She has not been seen since.
Steve Snyder is Margot Thornton’s estranged husband and the father of
Forrest and Eli from a previous marriage.
Forrest
Snyder admitted to making statements to Margot Thornton shortly before
Lily disappeared that she might not get her daughter back. Prosecutors
interpreted his remarks as threats, while Snyder testified that he had
merely been negotiating.
"It
does appear that the defendant is the least culpable of the three,"
May said on Monday.
Snyder’s
probation terms include the stipulation that he continue to cooperate in
finding Lily and his father and brother. Under the withheld judgment, if
he abides by all the terms, he can petition the court to dismiss the
charge when the probation expires in five years.
Eli
Snyder remains a fugitive on kidnapping warrants from Blaine County and
the FBI. Steve Snyder became a fugitive from Orange County, Calif.,
after pleading guilty in April 2000 to corporal injury and false
imprisonment, both felonies, and to misdemeanor child abuse.