A 42-year-old Golden man was sentenced to 20 years in prison today for sexually assaulting a 69-year-old kindergarten teacher.

Robert Merele Reed appeared before Jefferson County District Judge Jane Tidball who heard the case of the woman who had to use a walker because she was recovering from two hip replacements.

In testimony, it was revealed she had been friends with Reed for more than five years and at times their relationship had been intimate.

On March 10, 2006, he went to her home in Golden on the pretense of making her lunch, but instead violently attacked her. Reed pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 to sexual assault and assault of an at-risk adult.

Reed is a registered sex offender and previously had been convicted of sexual assault in Jefferson County.