The family then told police in 1998 they did not want to pursue charges. Witnesses told police Smith entered treatment and also paid for the girl to go to therapy. A teacher also filed a report with police, though Smith’s name was never included in that report.Īt that point police say Shambhala was contacted and a man named Dennis Southward, who reportedly dealt with “family conflicts or domestic violence issues within families” for Shambhala, became involved.Īccording to the report, Southward told the girl’s family to have Smith enter a “restorative justice” program set up by Southward rather than go to police. Michael Smith, 55, is set for trial in April on one count of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust with a pattern of abuse after prosecutors allege he sexually abused a girl he met through Shambhala multiple times starting in 1997 when the named victim was 13 years old.Īccording to a police report, the girl first told a family friend about the abuse in 1998 and then told her parents.
An independent investigation commissioned by Shambhala into the arrest of a former member on Boulder sex assault allegations found the Buddhist organization did not pressure the parents of the child not to report the case, but did find the community needed to improve mandatory reporting and intervention training.
