Trenton Shipley: Dancing with the Stars finalist charged with sexual assault

A former Dancing with the Stars finalist performed the “most intimate dance” with a woman he would allegedly go on to sexually assault, a court has heard.

Trenton Shipley, 48, is facing seven charges relating to the alleged sexual touching and assault of a woman at a Sydney dance studio in 2021.

In 2005, Mr Shipley made it to the finals of Dancing with the Stars as the partner of Seven News presenter Chris Bath.

It is alleged over the course of one evening, between 10pm and 4am, Mr Shipley kissed a woman on the face and neck and touched her breasts and genitalia without her consent.

Mr Shipley appeared in Downing Centre local court on Tuesday for a trial which will continue this week. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Veteran dance teacher Leeanne Bampton, who owns the Annandale studio where the alleged offence took place, gave evidence in court.

Both Mr Shipley and the alleged victim were invited to spend the night in a unit attached to the studio where Ms Bampton lives.

She told the court she had seen Mr Shipley dancing a rumba with the alleged victim earlier in the evening – describing it as a “very intimate dance”.

“Out of all the dances, it’s the most intimate dance. It’s very a close, tactile dance. It’s got a lot of emotion,” Ms Bampton said.

“You move very quickly, in and out, every body part touching. You intertwine your legs. You’re cheek to cheek.”

According to Ms Bampton, it’s normal for dancers to spontaneously engage in touching each other and even what could be considered “kissing” in the course of dancing together.

“You just do it spontaneously – that’s what we do. We don’t take offence to it,” she said.

“I grab somebody on the bottom every hour to show them a move.”

However, she said there was a level of implied boundaries that were different for every dancer but could be gauged by how they present themselves or react to being touched.

She added that in general, touching on the “crutch or boobs” would be crossing a line.

“You learn a bit of choreography and you elaborate to make it look as natural as possible to a sexual act,” Ms Bampton said.

“They know that the minute they stop dancing, it’s just part of the act of dancing.”

Ms Bampton said the pair appeared as if they were enjoying dancing together and that she had also started briefly dancing with Mr Shipley because she had felt left out.

She said Mr Shipley appeared to have had a “substantial amount to drink” and began critiquing his alleged victim’s dancing skill, she told the court.

“In the beginning she was enjoying it. She was enjoying the dancing. She was giggling, laughing,” she said.

“It started to change. It became more critical.”

Later, Ms Bampton asked the intoxicated Mr Shipley to sleep at the studio, which included helping him to get undressed and take a shower.

“He didn’t seem in a very good mental state. I wanted him to stay. I was concerned about him,” she said.

According to Ms Bampton, the last thing she recalled was putting Mr Shipley to bed next to her and falling asleep.

The next morning, the alleged victim informed her that during the night, something had occurred with Mr Shipley.

“She said while she was asleep, Trenton had come downstairs naked and jumped in bed with her,” Ms Bampton said.

“I asked her did anything happen and she said ‘no’ but it scared her.”

According to court documents, police allege that at 4.10am, Mr Shipley touched the woman’s breasts and genitalia.

Mr Shipley remains on bail under strict conditions, including that he not contact or interfere with the complainant or go to certain addresses in Sydney.

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