They can be popular and beloved by the community, but sexual predators try to manipulate children every day.
The News 3 Investigative Team continues to dig into cases where teachers have lost their licenses and shares the story of a young woman looking to warn more people about the grooming process.
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Bella Hoffman said the man who was grooming her at her high school made her feel pretty and complimented her.
“He would always make sexual kind of jokes, and I would brush it off,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman was 16 at the time and a senior at Powhatan High School.
Andrew Snead was the band director, who was also a church music minister and 36 years old at the time.
Hoffman said she was groomed by him. She said at the time, she didn’t know what grooming was but felt they had a special relationship.
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“It was more of like a friendship type of relationship,” said Hoffman. "It wasn’t just like a teacher-student relationship."
She said slowly, the relationship turned abusive.
“He would touch me and do things that were inappropriate at school and also at his home,” said Hoffman, “As time went on, it progressively got worse.”
She says in exchange for the inappropriate relationship, she got special treatment from Snead.
“If he was getting something in return, he would’ve been nicer to us at school that day,” said Hoffman. "He would let me leave school, go get lunch and bring it back, and we would eat lunch in his office. He would write tardy passes. I’d go get his dry cleaning."
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Hoffman said if he didn’t get what he wanted, he would throw tantrums and get mad.
Hoffman said during her senior year, she liked having the freedom to do what she wanted but didn’t realize the price she had to pay at the time.
She said she developed anxiety, PTSD, had nightmares, problems sleeping and suffered from depression. She said she talked to her parents about the abuse, then police were called.
Snead is serving an eight-year sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to child sex crimes.
Licensed psychotherapist Dr. Sarah Williams says trust is part of the grooming process in some cases.
“When there is a specific interest in learning what the individual's weaknesses are and to manipulate those weaknesses in order to achieve some desired outcome,” said Williams.
She said sometimes, predators hold positions of power.
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“They are our teachers,” said Williams. "They are our pastors. They are our friends and our neighbors. And for that regard, we have to pay very close attention and focus on what a person does and not what they appear to be."
The CDC reports that child sexual abuse is a significant public health problem. They say about one in four girls and one in 20 boys in the United States experience this type of abuse.
They also say in 91% of cases, the child knows or trusts the perpetrator. They estimated in 2015 that the total lifetime economic burden of child sex abuse was thought to be about $9.3 billion.
“They can be very, what appears to be, a likable personality, but is not in a true sense the essence of who this individual is,” said Williams. "There's a deep, dark, seated psychological issue. That probably went and flew under the radar."
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Hoffman said Snead was very likable.
“Everybody loved him in the county," she said. "He won all the band competitions with the students.”
Hoffman warns others, “Watch if your kids are acting weird because I know I acted weird. I definitely changed a lot throughout the time because I was so scared. I was in my head and I didn’t know what was happening. I want people to know what grooming is because I never knew about it and I was never taught about it in school.”
The CDC says child sexual abuse is preventable. They say most resources focus on after the crime has happened and say little investment has been made in primary prevention or preventing child sexual abuse.
The News 3 Investigative Team reached out to the Powhatan School District to ask about any policy changes that have been made and exact times and dates when Snead was employed. Here is the statement we received:
Andrew Snead was employed by Powhatan County Public Schools in 2015 and became the lead music teacher in 2018. He was suspended without pay on June 30, 2022, pending the outcome of an investigation by Child Protective Services, and his employment was terminated on November 29, 2022. Per Powhatan County Public Schools’ policy, and in accordance with the Code of Virginia, the School Board does not hire or continue the employment of any part-time, full-time, temporary, or permanent personnel who are determined to be unsuited for service by reason of criminal conviction or information appearing in the registry of founded complaints of child abuse and neglect maintained by the Department of Social Services.
