Michael DiPalma

LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- A former day camp teacher subcontracted by the city has pleaded guilty to sexual assault on a child for taking an 8-year-old student away from a Lakewood recreation center and spanking him 20 times.

Michael DiPalma pleaded guilty last Friday. His trial was to have started on Monday.

Authorities said DiPalma was teaching a Lego class for children at the city's Link Recreation Center, 1295 S. Reed St., in July 2006 when he lured the boy into his car, drove to a nearby apartment parking lot. Police said he climbed in the back seat, pulled down the boy's pants and spanked him on his bare buttocks before letting him go.

Authorities said DiPalma was fired from an after-school program in Denver in May 2006 after spanking at least two students.

Before he moved to Colorado, DiPalma was convicted of two counts of false imprisonment in Albuquerque in 2000 and served a three-year probated sentence. He was originally charged with sexual assault on a child and kidnapping in connection with the case.

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