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Tanning salon owner jailed for touching girl By JILL BRISKEY Mail Tribune The owner of an Ashland tanning salon will spend 30 days in jail for inappropriately touching a 14-year-old girl in May 2000. Donald L. Smith, 56, of Ashland, pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree sex abuse in November in Jackson County Circuit Court. Following a pre-sentencing investigation, Smith appeared in court again on Wednesday. Smith, the owner of Tanfastics Tanning Center in the Ashland Shopping Center, was accused of having sexual contact with the victim, a customer. He was arrested by Ashland police in August 2000. The incident involving the girl was the only complaint reported to police. Smith has not been convicted of sex abuse before. "It's all my fault," Smith told Judge Patricia Crain. "That's all I can say. I'm very sorry." The victim and her family were unable to attend Smith's sentencing. Crain considered not sentencing Smith to jail but went ahead with the recommendation of 30 days from the Jackson County District Attorney's Office. Smith also was sentenced to three years' supervised probation and ordered to enter a sex offender treatment program and register as a sex offender. He was ordered to pay restitution to the victim for counseling and not to contact her. Smith's defense attorney, Jeni Feinberg, asked that Smith be allowed contact with minors while working at his business. Crain agreed but ordered Smith to submit to periodic polygraph testing. Third-degree sex abuse is a Class A misdemeanor that involves non-consensual, intimate touching or intimate touching involving a minor. Feinberg said her client never intended to have intercourse with the victim and didn't realize the touching incident was a crime. "I think you're still in denial about that," Crain told Smith. "What you did was abusive in every sense of the word." Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.