An Adams County judge on Tuesday sentenced an assistant pastor at Agape Bible Church in Thornton to 13 years in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a teenager who was home-schooled at his residence.

Robert Duane Wyatt, 51, used his position at the church to gain the trust of the victim and her parents.

At the sentencing hearing, District Judge Don Quick criticized the church and the girl’s father, saying they responded to the allegations by shifting blame to the victim and trying to handle the matter within the church rather than reporting to police.

“I’m still shocked at how certain adults responded to this,” Quick said.

The girl, now 15, reported that Wyatt began inappropriately touching her when she was 12. Last March, when she was 13, he offered to take her on a field trip but instead took her to a hotel where he sexually assaulted her.

“Mr. Wyatt describes this as a stupid decision, but this wasn’t a mistake. He saw he could manipulate the victim and her family,” Patrick Freeman, senior deputy district attorney said at the sentencing hearing.

“Those who attempted to hide him from justice share blame,” Freeman said.

As an assistant pastor and teacher, Wyatt was in a position of trust, Quick said.

“You preyed on her emotional and physical vulnerabilities. Over and over again you planned how to groom her so that you could commit these acts,” he said. “You took advantage not just of her body but her heart, telling her that you loved her.”

On July 18, Wyatt pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree assault and sexual assault on a child.