Published: July 03, 2009 12:07 am      

Johnstown man admits raping 6-year-old

John Robert Snyder pleaded guilty Thursday in Cambria County Court to the rape of a 6-year-old girl.

Prosecutors are recommending a

20- to 40-year sentence in a state correctional institution.

Kelly Callihan, assistant district attorney, said that as part of the plea agreement Snyder will be a lifetime registrant under the state’s Megan’s law, meaning that he would be required to register his address with the state police for the rest of his life after he is released from prison.

He will not be sentenced until Sept. 30, Callihan said, because he has to go through a Megan’s law assesment prior to sentencing to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator.

Snyder, who was 45 at the time of the crime, took the child from a Johnstown home where he was visiting, authorities said.

A prior Megan’s law offender, Snyder took the child to his third-floor apartment in the 400 block of Somerset Street and raped her twice, according to court records.

The girl told authorities that Snyder put a pillow over her face when she cried

out.

He made her take a bath to destroy evidence, city police said.

But Callihan said the prosecution team had DNA evidence linking him to the crime.

She said Snyder had removed the bedsheets and thrown them over a river wall, but officers conducted an outside search and found them.

The blood on the sheets matched his DNA, she said.

The recommended sentence is the maximum allowed by law, Callihan said, but she believes it is warranted.

“It was an unjustified, violent, sexual assault on a little girl who thought she was going to the playground,” Callihan said.