Former Cheer Coach Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison For Rape, Molestation

A man who coached cheerleading at the now-defunct Galaxy Cheer Gym in Redmond was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of third-degree child rape and second-degree child molestation.

As The Daily Herald of Everett reported, Michael Cielo, 37, met the victim at Galaxy in 2006 when she was a seventh-grader. Cielo began a sexual relationship with the girl, who lived in Everett, when she was about 13 and continued abusing her until she was in high school, according to The Herald.

Defense attorney John Kannin had asked that Cielo be sentenced to probation and treatment in lieu of prison time, saying the defendant had a low risk to re-offend. But Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Kurtz said Cielo should serve time in prison, in addition to receiving treatment.

"This was not a situation involving a momentary lapse in judgement," Kurtz said. "It was a calculated series of acts that happened again and again and again."