Boulder County Sheriff's Office
Michael Smith
Another former member of Boulder’s Shambhala Center has been arrested and accused of sexually assaulting a child he was introduced to through the Buddhist community, and the named victim and her parents said Shambhala officials knew about the allegations at the time but decided not to go to police.
Michael Smith, 54, was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust.
According to a release, the named victim was sexually assaulted by Smith multiple times beginning in 1997 when she was 13 years old.
According to an arrest affidavit, the girl lived in Boulder and her family was heavily involved in the Shambhala community. Her parents took her to a Shambhala retreat in Vermont every year, which is where she said she first met Smith when she was 9 or 10 years old.
According to the affidavit, the girl’s family often rented out rooms in their house to other Shambhala members, and Smith lived at the house for two to three years. During that time, the woman told police Smith sexually abused her numerous times, performing oral sex on her, forcing her to touch his privates, and kissing her breasts.
The girl reported the incidents in 1998 to her parents and other adults, who confronted Smith about the allegations. According to the affidavit, Smith at the time said his penis had “just popped out.”
The girl’s parents told police this year Smith at the time was asked to leave the house, but Shambhala officials agreed not to report Smith to police if he agreed to certain conditions.
A police report was generated in 1998, but it did not name the suspect.
Smith’s then-girlfriend also said Smith wrote a confession letter in which he admitted to some of the sexual abuse.
When police talked to Smith this year, he denied any sexual abuse but did say they “fooled around,” and that he was sexually aroused by this.
Boulder Shambhala Executive Director Melanie Klein said the organization did not have any information regarding this case.
“We have a member named Michael Smith but he’s not the one being reported on,” Klein wrote in an email. “There may have been another Michael Smith who was a member of the Boulder Shambhala community twenty two years ago, but we have no information about that. His alleged crimes should be prosecuted vigorously.”
Boulder police said a second woman came forward and said she was victimized by Smith when she was 11 years old at the same Barnet, Vt., retreat. Because the assault reportedly took place outside of Boulder, that case will be investigated by law enforcement in Vermont.
There is no statute of limitations on sex offenses involving children younger than 15.
Both women came forward after learning Boulder police had arrested another former member of the Boulder Shalmabla, William Karelis, on suspicion of sexual assault on a child.
In that case, a woman said she first met Karelis through Shambhala in the 1990s when she was around 8, when Karelis was assigned to her as her meditation instructor.
When the alleged victim was around 13, she began spending weekends at Karelis’ Boulder house for teachings. She would sleep in a downstairs room at Karelis’ home, but told police Karelis would come into her room after his wife fell asleep and would perform oral sex on her.
The woman told police this happened 10 times over about 18 months.
Karelis is currently scheduled for an arraignment in August.
The women in all three cases do not know one another.
Boulder police believe Smith may have victimized other people. Anyone who believes they or someone they know was victimized by Smith or any other member or former member of the Boulder Shambala is asked to call Boulder police Detective Ross Richart at 303-441-1833.
Smith had his bond set at $10,000 and is set for a formal filing of charges on Tuesday.
In addition to the Boulder cases, Shambhala International’s leader Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche has taken a “step back” amidst his own sexual misconduct scandal.