Hays Man enters plea in Child Sex Crime case

A Hays man has pleaded “no contest” to sex crimes involving a child. According to court documents, 49 year old Clinton Eugene Snavely entered the plea Monday in Ellis County District Court. Snavely had initially faced the following 14 counts which stemmed from incidents that occurred from 2002 to September of 2011. All of the charges are felonies involving a minor:

Count 1: Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 2: Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 3: Rape, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 4: Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 5: Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 6: Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child, a severity level 3 person felony
Count 7: Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child, a severity level 3 person felony
Count 8: Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 9: Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 10: Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 3 person felony
Count 11: Indecent Liberties with a Child, a severity level 5 person felony
Count 12: Rape, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 13: Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 1 person felony
Count 14: Aggravated Criminal Sodomy, a severity level 1 person felony

According to the plea agreement, Snavely pleaded “no contest” to counts 6, 7 and 10. In doing so, the remaining charges will be dismissed. Court documents delineate between guilty and no contest as such:

-A plea of GUILTY is an admission of guilty to the crimes charges and relieves the State of Kansas of its burden to prove guilt.

-A plea of NO CONTEST is an admission that the State of Kansas has sufficient evidence to prove guilt and the defendant will not contest such evidence.

In the plea agreement, a suggested sentencing listed. Ellis County Attorney Tom Drees told Hays Post that this sentence duration is one both parties anticipate based on Kansas guidelines as well as Snavely’s history. The plea agreement lists an expected sentence of 188 months in prison. Sentencing for the case has not yet been scheduled.