Colorado Shambhala Member Given 20 Years For Child Sex Abuse
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - A former member of a Colorado Shambhala Buddhist center who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a child has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Daily Camera reported 55-year-old Michael Smith pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and attempted sexual assault on a child in March.
A Boulder district judge also handed down a three-year prison sentence for attempted sex assault. Smith's prison sentence will be followed by five years of mandatory parole.
Police say Smith lived in a room rented out by the girl's family to other Shambhala Buddhists, where he sexually abused the girl beginning in 1997.
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