Serial 'Snuggler' Gets Five Years Probation
BATON ROUGE, La. -- The serial "snuggler" will have to keep his hands to himself.The man who sneaked into women's apartments just to cuddle with them has been sentenced to five years' probation.
Before pleading guilty earlier this year to 12 counts of unauthorized entry, Steve Danos, 26, led a commendable life, a judge said Wednesday before sentencing him.
None of the victims was hurt. Instead, the intruder roused the residents to ask about a party, helped himself to beer and pizza, folded clothes, made nachos and crawled into one woman's bed to rub her stomach.
Before his arrest, Danos had a more notable claim to fame. He drove in the winning run in the state championship baseball game his senior year at John Curtis Christian School in River Ridge.
"It's simply unbelievable," state District Judge Todd Hernandez said Wednesday, while flipping through letters written to the court on Danos' behalf by friends, teachers and school administrators.
"Mr. Danos, up until this point you've led a life that would make any parent unbelievably proud," Hernandez said.
The judge attributed Danos' bizarre behavior to the use of alcohol and drugs.
Danos' attorney, Robert Gill, said Danos was an outstanding high school athlete who sank into depression when he didn't make the team at Louisiana State, Gill said.
The odd behavior began when Danos started soothing himself with Xanax, alcohol and marijuana, Gill said.