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A fourth person was arrested Monday in connection with the child homicide deaths of Nicole Snyder and Jasmine Snyder back in 2016 and 2017, according to Old Lycoming Township police.
Taken into custody was Ronald Butler, 53, of 76 Green Hill Road, Ralston, who has been charged with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing information in a child abuse case.
Butler was arraigned before District Judge William Solomon and committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $200,000 bail.
"He knowingly endangered the welfare of Jasmine Snyder and Nicole Snyder while supervising them at their home at 653 Livermore Road in Hepburn Township, subjecting them to protracted, intentional starvation and child abuse that resulted in their deaths," a township police officer alleged in an affidavit. At the time, Butler also was living at the home.
Already arrested in the case are the girls' mother, Marie Snyder, 32; Butler's daughter and Snyder's girlfriend, Echo Butler 26; and Ronald Butler's wife and Echo's mother, Michele Butler, 49.
The District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty for Marie Snyder and Echo Butler.
Investigators allege the two abused the girls for years up to the time of their deaths, and that Echo Butler buried the children in the backyard at the home on Livermore Road. Butler's mother indicated that the two girls "from the time they woke up until they went to bed, spent time in the corners of rooms, being physically restrained during these times. The only exception was to use the bathroom and to provide little amounts of food and water," according to an affidavit.
When the girls soiled themselves, "they would have the feces smeared onto them as punishment by Echo Butler. When the girls had an accident of going to the bathroom, their noses would be rubbed into feces or urine as punishment, like a dog, by Echo Butler," investigators alleged.
Nicole was 6 when she died on or about May 10, 2016, and Jasmine was 4 when she died on or about Aug. 11, 2017, according to investigators.
Marie Snyder has admitted to investigators that following Nicole's death, "the starvation and abuse of Jasmine continued and increased in severity," court records stated. In late September 2016, Marie Snyder and Echo Butler moved with Jasmine to the 1600 block of Catherine Street in the city. After she died on Catherine Street in the city, her body was transported back to 653 Livermore Road, where she was buried next to her sister, investigators were told.
Michele Butler has told police that her daughter and the girls' mother would "subject the girls to physical abuse, hitting their heads off walls and other objects on almost a daily basis," court records stated. Michele Butler reported that on at least one occasion, Marie Snyder pushed the girls into a wall, resulting in injuries, including "a bleeding head wound" to Jasmine, the affidavit stated.
In a court document made public this week, investigators alleged Ronald Butler "failed to provide information to the Lycoming County Department of Children and Youth" during their investigation into the safety and care of the girls.
When asked by police last Oct. 1 about the girls' whereabouts, he told them they "were with a friend. He stated he had not seen or heard from Marie or Echo after they left on Sept. 25," according to the affidavit.
"Ronald Butler stated that 'They (the two women) took everything and left. I have no idea where they are. I have not talked to them,'" the court document stated.
However, investigators were later told by Marie Snyder that he "aided" her and Echo in fleeing the area to Snow Shoe, Centre County, on Sept. 27, the court documents stated.
Marie Snyder admitted that at one point when "their vehicle broke down in Snowshoe, Ronald Butler was called and he came" to help them, police said, adding that data collected from cellphones showed the women in Snow Shoe on Sept. 27 as well as phone calls to Ronald Butler on the same day.
The two women fled the area about four weeks after the county's Children and Youth Department began an investigation into alleged "child-neglect issues" involving Marie's Snyder's 7-year-old son at the Livermore Road property, police said.
When a children and youth caseworker asked about Jasmine Snyder, Marie Snyder told the investigator that the girl "was not living there because there was not a bed for her," the affidavit stated. The mother claimed the girl was living "at a friend's house, being homeschooled, refusing to provide the friend's name," police said.
Soon, the agency learned of a second missing child, Nicole, police said.
The son is healthy and under the care of children and youth, police added.