Baton Rouge Advocate staff writer
He was dubbed the serial snuggler for slipping into women's apartments to watch them sleep and climb into bed to cuddle.
Before his slide into the surreal, Steve Danos led a commendable life, a judge said Wednesday before placing the former LSU student on five years' probation.
Danos pleaded guilty earlier this year to 12 counts of unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling for going into at least a dozen apartments near campus while their occupants were sleeping on Sept. 21.
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.
A victim's boyfriend saw the intruder leave and jotted down his license plate number. The truck was registered to Danos' father, leading police to Danos.
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 a thick pile of 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 told him.
The judge attributed Danos' bizarre behavior to the use of alcohol and drugs.
"There's no other explanation," Hernandez said.
Danos' attorney, Robert Gill, said Danos was an outstanding high school athlete who once batted .552.
Expecting to walk on at LSU, he sank into depression when he didn't make the team, Gill said.
The odd behavior began when Danos started soothing himself with Xanax, alcohol and marijuana, Gill said.
Danos had little to say in court beyond polite, perfunctory responses to the judge's questions.
Hernandez ordered him to complete 200 hours of community service, attend weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and submit to regular drug screenings.
The judge agreed that Danos' probation file could be transferred to Orleans Parish, where the 26-year-old will be attending the University of New Orleans.
Hernandez also reminded Danos of the suspended sentence he'll have to serve if he doesn't comply with the conditions of his probation.
"At least for the next five years, Mr. Danos, you have 12 years reminding you to stay on the straight and narrow," he said.