A former Dancing With the Stars contestant will soon find out whether he will end up in jail after a court rejected his appeal over his conviction for sexually touching a woman during a drunken dance session and climbing naked into her bed.
Trenton Shipley, 50, sat quietly in Sydney’s Downing Center District Court on Thursday afternoon as a judge dismissed his appeal against his conviction on three charges of sexually touching a woman at an Annandale unit and dance studio in 2021.
Judge Graham Turnbull said while there were inconsistencies in the story of the female victim – who cannot be named or identified – he found there was other corroborating evidence.
A judge has dismissed an appeal in the case against former Dancing With the Stars contestant Trenton Shipley (pictured right) after he was convicted of sexually touching a woman without consent
Shipley, best known for his appearance on season three of Dancing with the Stars, was sentenced to up to a year in prison last year after being convicted by Magistrate Julia Virgo.
He was immediately released on bail while he appealed.
But that bid to overturn his conviction was rejected by Judge Graham Turnbull on Thursday.
However, in yet another twist in the story, Shipley was not immediately taken into custody at the Downing Center court complex as his appeal against his sentence is yet to be heard.
That appeal over the severity of his sentence will now be heard in May, although Judge Turnbull noted he had not yet seen any expression of remorse or remorse from Shipley.
His convictions relate to a series of incidents while Shipley danced with the woman and taught at a dance studio in Annandale, which belonged to a mutual friend.
After drinking and dancing, both slept in separate beds in an apartment next to the studio.
Shipley (pictured right) was convicted of the offense last year and was sentenced to up to one year in prison
The court heard Shipley drank from an open bottle of vodka in the evening and told the woman ‘you are absolutely beautiful’.
The most serious offense related to an incident where Shipley climbed naked into the woman’s bed early in the morning.
During the trial at the local court, the woman indicated that he touched her vagina and breasts over her clothing.
The woman told the court at the time that when Shipley climbed on top of her, he told her he loved her and should marry her, saying, “That’s how it works.”
Judge Turnbull noted there were inconsistencies in her evidence, including the “disturbing” finding that she sent two Snapchat messages to a boyfriend while he was getting into her bed.
The woman made no mention of the Snapchat message or the photos she took, but it was revealed when another witness gave evidence about it during the trial, the court heard.
The court heard she wrote on one of the messages: ‘Oh my God he jumped on me naked in bed’.
The woman told the court that Shipley (pictured) climbed on top of her naked and touched her vagina and breasts over her clothing
Since Snapchat messages are automatically deleted, there was no evidence of what was in the images or the attached captions.
However, Judge Turnbull accepted other aspects of her evidence, including contemporaneous notes and complaints she had made.
Mr Shipley’s defense accepted that he entered the room naked but argued there was not sufficient time to commit the offences.
Judge Turnbull also dismissed the appeal against his conviction on the other two charges; kissing and groping the woman during a dance, and touching her thigh in the kitchen.
Shipley will now return to court on May 3, where his legal team will seek to reduce his sentence to a non-custodial measure.
He remains free on bail.