Former Bethany Christian employee charged with five counts of child seduction
May 7—GOSHEN — A former employee of Bethany Christian Schools was arrested April 30 on five counts of child seduction, a Level 5 felony.
Goshen police said they were notified of a child solicitation incident on April 24. Detectives investigated, and on April 30, Kyle Snyder, 26, 2214 S. Main St., Goshen, was arrested at his home.
He was taken to the Elkhart County Jail.
An initial hearing has been scheduled for May 16 in Elkhart County Superior Court 3.
According to a probable cause affidavit by Goshen police, the parents of a 17-year-old Bethany Christian student learned of "inappropriate contact" between Snyder and their daughter. Snyder was the assistant theater director for the high school and middle school.
About a year and a half ago, the statement reads, the girl met Snyder in one of her theater classes while Snyder was the assistant theater director. The affidavit also said that he was the girl's teacher in 2023 when she was 16 years old. He then started tutoring her in math, the parents told police. In August/September, the affidavit reads, the parents started having a bad feeling about Snyder and their daughter's relationship. Due to text messages they found on their daughter's phone, they believe the relationship became physical in October/November.
They initially made a report to Syracuse police, with the girl saying the sexual contact continued through April 21 of this year and that it occurred mainly at Snyder's house, where he lives with his parents. His parents were in a different room at the time, the statement reads.
With consent from the family, Goshen police searched the girl's phone. Beginning from April of 2023, there were 34,000 text messages with many of them being sexually explicit, the affidavit reads.
The affidavit also states that the officer conducted an interview with the head of Bethany Christian Schools, who said Snyder was fired in February for inappropriate comments he made to other students during a math tutoring session, outside of the school. These students were 15-18 years old.
