Kristin Smart's parents speak out for the first time since Paul Flores was sentenced

The parents of Kristin Smart, the CalPoly freshman who was murdered after a party in 1996, have revealed that the university police victim-shamed their daughter after her disappearance. 

In their first interview since their daughter's killer was sentenced, Denise and Stan Smart are sharing their frustration over the campus police's handling of their daughter's disappearance. 

'The Cal Poly police took me aside and said, "you know, your daughter was doing some things that would put her at risk," and that she'd gone to a party, and she had drank alcohol,' Stan told Dateline NBC in an interview that will air Friday at 9pm. 

'Like that was unusual for college kids to go to a party and drink alcohol, and that she was scantily dressed,' the father told the outlet. 

'There was a lot of victim shaming. And it's, like, women get what, you know, what they're asking for,' echoed Kristin's mother in the interview. 

In early March, Paul Flores who attended California Polytechnic State University with Kristin, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the 1996 murder. 

'There was a lot of victim shaming. And it's, like, women get what, you know, what they're asking for,' Kristin Smart's mother said of the police's investigation into her disappearance

Freshman Kristin Smart disappeared in 1996 after a California college party - and the prime suspect was found guilty after a crime podcast helped crack the case

In early March, Paul Flores who attended California Polytechnic State University with Kristin, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the 1996 murder

While talking with Dateline's Josh Mankiewicz, the family said they still are reeling from the their daughter's disappearance and the years of struggle that followed. 

In a clip of their interview shared with DailyMail.com, the parents described the immediate conversations they had with law enforcement after Kristin vanished. 

Denise and Stan said they were shocked to hear their daughter blamed for her actions on the night of May 25, 1996. 

The father said police painted their daughter as someone who had done something to herself by going to a party, drinking, and going home with someone.  

'And I listened to all this, and he was portraying to me that our daughter disappeared, and if she was dead, she'd brought it onto herself, which was totally wrong,' Stan told Mankiewicz. 

The Dateline reporter pressed the parents and asked if they think things would have been different if their daughter had gone missing under different circumstances.   

'You think they would have worked on it differently if she'd, you know, been coming back from the library and never had any boyfriends, and, you know, was wearing a hazmat suit?' Mankiewicz asked Kristin's parents. 

'Well, it would've been, definitely would have been different, because it was a different era,' Denise said before mentioning the 'victim shaming' at the time. 

In response, Dateline received a statement from CalPoly saying: 'It is never appropriate to describe a victim as promiscuous, and it runs completely counter to our practices and procedures.'

'Well, it would've been, definitely would have been different, because it was a different era,' Denise said of whether or not police would have investigated Kristin's disappearance differently if the circumstances had been different

'The Cal Poly police took me aside and said, "you know, your daughter was doing some things that would put her at risk," and that she'd gone to a party, and she had drank alcohol,' Stan said

CalPoly said in a statement: 'It is never appropriate to describe a victim as promiscuous, and it runs completely counter to our practices and procedures'

On top of calling out police for the way they handled the investigation, Stan and Denise went off all individuals and agencies who stood in the way of justice.

'They took 26 years of our life that we have been having to fight,' Denise said in a clip of the exclusive interview, released on Thursday. 

Along with interviews including Kristin's mom and dad, for the 'Justice for Kristin Smart' special, Dateline spoke with several other officials and witnesses. 

Among those who talked with the outlet include San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office detective Clint Cole, San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson, and some of Kristin's friends. 

Dateline also spoke with host of the 'Your Own Backyard' podcast host Chris Lambert who was credited with helping crack her case. 

Lambert launched the series in 2019 which renewed public interest in the case. 

The podcast also helped to identify additional witnesses and key information that prosecutors called 'critical in the prosecution of this case.' 

Flores is seen in court in July 2022 in Monterey County courtroom in Salinas

Flores is shown in an unrelated arrest photo from 1996, when he was 19. He was convicted in 2022 for Smart's murder and his sentencing hearing was on Friday

When Flores was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in early March, Judge Jennifer O'Keefe told him: 'Mr Flores, you have been a cancer to society.' 

'For 25 years you have lived free in the community' and continued to drug and assault women, she said, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune. 

Police have never found Kristin's remains but have stated they believe Flores raped her in his dorm room then murdered her. 

He was initially identified as a 'person of interest' early in the case, but to this day insists he is innocent.

Flores was ordered to pay a total of $10,000 in restitution to his victims. He must also register as a sex offender for life, as he assaulted and killed Kristin.