NIWOT, Colo. -- A 47-year-old nudist from Niwot accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl and drinking her urine denied the charges in court Friday morning.

Joseph S. Cardillo pleaded not guilty to charges of sex assault on a child by a person in position of trust and a pattern of assaulting the girl, according to our partners at the Boulder Daily Camera.

Cardillo met the girl's mother at a local chapter of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and they became friends, she told police.

She said she met Cardillo in public places every weekend for the past year so he could take her daughter to his home for sleepovers. It was unclear why she did that.

Even though her daughter has been going to the man's house since June 2006, the mother said she did not know where Cardillo lives and has never been to his home. He lives in a basement in Niwot, Colo., with another family living above him.

The alleged abuse came to light after the Boulder County Department of Social Services began investigating reports about the girl looking "dirty and hungry" all the time. The girl told caseworkers about her alleged relationship with Cardillo, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by 7NEWS.

The girl told deputies she spent weekends with the man, identified as Jamuna, and slept with him in his bedroom, sometimes naked. He was taking baths with her, shared the hot tub with her naked, fondled her chest and genital area, and "tickled" her everywhere, she said.

"Jamuna also massages her with his hands and drinks her urine, as he catches it with his hands while she is using the restroom," the affidavit said.

The girl said he stands in front of her while she pees and "drinks it until there is no more urine coming out" of her.

The girl told a social service caseworker that she wasn't supposed to talk about this because it was a secret.

The girl also told authorities that Cardillo used a sex toy on her.

The girl's mother defended Cardillo and said she considers him family. She and Cardillo are both nudists and she "is comfortable with her daughter being nude as long as everyone is comfortable," the woman told detectives.

The woman said she thinks the peeing incidents are "weird" but that it was not hurting anyone and she knows other people who drink urine.

Staff at the Blue Sky Bridge child advocacy center, where the girl was being cared for, said the girl's mother "was having difficulty understanding the seriousness of the allegations as well as the suspect's culpability.

Cardillo is free on a $100,000 bond. His trial is set for June 2. If convicted, Cardillo faces a possible life sentence in prison.

A Google search shows a cached Web page for "Sacred Sex In Colorado" with the name Joseph Cardillo of Niwot. The page links to another page offering "Kama Sutra Treatments."

Read more from the Boulder Daily Camera.