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Candidate pleaded guilty to harassing ex-girlfriend

Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 18, 2007 at midnight

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A candidate for Centennial City Council pleaded guilty in May to harassing a former girlfriend, including stalking her.

George Jia Shen, 23, was sentenced to two years' probation and ordered to get a mental health evaluation and treatment.

He is under a permanent retraining order to stay away from the woman, who lives in Highlands Ranch, according to court records and Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.

Shen had a previous arrest for misdemeanor disorderly conduct involving a weapon in June 2006. That charge was not related to the stalking charge.

Shen, a mechanical engineer, declined to comment on the charge. "I want to avoid any damage from me making a statement. Anything I say can hurt her," Shen said.

Shen is running against Patrick Anderson for the Ward 3 council seat.

Shen said he is campaigning door-to-door. So far no one has mentioned his legal problems, which have been aired in a community newspaper.

Shen said his legal troubles shouldn't deter voters from choosing him. He holds a steady job and tutors in math at the Auraria Higher Education Center, he said.

"My biggest intent is to try to give to the community what I can give them. If being a convicted criminal - if that automatically puts me in a category where people think I cannot do any good for society, then obviously I probably shouldn't be running," Shen said.

In an affidavit filed with Douglas County Court, Shen's ex-girlfriend said he made numerous harassing phone calls to her. He also followed her at work, the affidavit says.

In August 2006, Shen followed her on the Metropolitan State College campus, then onto a light rail train and got off the train at her stop, according to an affidavit.

The incident ended when she called police. They told him to stay away from her.

The matter came to a head on Dec. 10, 2006, when Shen showed up at her house with seven guns and ammunition, according to an affidavit.

That time he was arrested, according to CBI records.

He pleaded guilty to harassment, a class 3 misdemeanor, on May 31.

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