BUTTE COUNTY, CA (MPG) - A Butte County judge handed down a 15-year-to-life sentence on Wednesday, April 27 for an Oroville man who was convicted of molesting his daughter.

Kyle Shane Smith, 36, of Oroville, was charged in August of 2020 with two counts of sexual abuse, relating to his now 9- and 11-year-old daughters. Smith was tried in front of a jury in August of 2021. Sentencing was delayed when Smith fired his trial attorney and hired a new attorney to bring a motion for a new trial, which was eventually denied by the judge.

During the trial, the victims testified their father had been molesting one of them for years, and the other endured a single incident. The children were between the ages of 5 and 7 when they were molested. Another daughter, 14-years-old when she testified, told the jury that her father attempted to touch her inappropriately on one occasion when she was 12, but that he was unsuccessful.

The girls said the abuse stopped after the defendant was arrested in 2016 for domestic violence against his wife, child endangerment for creating a hostile home environment, and multiple violations of a restraining order.

The girls did not disclose the abuse to their mother for over two years after the 2016 arrest. The children were living with their mother and a grandparent in another city and had not seen their father since the domestic violence incident.

During the trial, a golden retriever “victim comfort dog” named Reuben from the Lutheran Church Charities sat with the victims at the witness stand as they testified.

Judge Jesus Rodriguez also set a probation violation hearing Wednesday for June 8, 2022, to determine if the defendant violated his probation from his domestic violence case. If found in violation, Smith could receive an additional 6 years and 8 months in addition to the 15 years before he would be eligible for parole.