Remorseless Rotherham man 'sexually molested' teen at party after believing he got away with first assault

42-year-old Colin Shearer carried out the majority of the sex assaults against the complainant, a teenage girl, during the course of a party they both attended.

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Shearer first sexually assaulted the complainant three months earlier, in a separate incident.

Sending Shearer to prison, The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, said Shearer ‘took the chance’ to ‘sexually molest’ the complainant at the party, after believing he had ‘got away’ with the first incident.

Referring to the party, during which Shearer sexually assaulted the complainant five times, Judge Richardson continued: “You took advantage of a vulnerable girl.”

“It was repeated.”

“At the time, although she was not inebriated, she was affected by alcohol which she had consumed at the party.”

During a hearing held on November 26, 2024, Judge Richardson suggested the effects of the alcohol, along with her age, had rendered the complainant ‘vulnerable’.

Shearer, of Wesley Avenue, Aston, Rotherham, sought to deny any wrongdoing but his account was rejected by jurors, who found him guilty of six counts of sexual assault at the conclusion of a trial in the same court.

“This has been the hardest thing to go through in my life,” the complainant said in a statement submitted to the court after the jury returned their verdicts.

The statement provided by the complainant - who is entitled to lifelong anonymity - suggested she suffers with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the wake of Shearer’s crimes.

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Prosecutor, Richard Davies, said there was no medical evidence to support the complainant’s PTSD, when asked by Judge Richardson.

Judge Richardson said the lack of medical evidence to support a formal diagnosis meant he could not reach that conclusion.

He noted, however, that he believed the complainant had been ‘badly affected’ by Shearer’s offending.

Defending, Ian West described Shearer as a ‘hard working family man’ who has always been in ‘employment’.

Mr West said Shearer is responsible for the majority of his household’s income, and suggested Shearer’s partner and two children would be detrimentally affected should he be sent to prison.

He also detailed Shearer’s numerous health complaints, which include osteopenia, a degenerative bone disease which means he has the ‘bone density of a 95-year-old’; an immune deficiency, along with hearing issues.

Jailing him for 20 months, Judge Richardson told Shearer he may be in a different position had he admitted to his crimes, because ‘forcing a trial’ meant he had ‘forfeited what would have been potent mitigation’.

“The seriousness of this case is her age, the severity and your persistence,” Judge Richardson said.

He added: “You’ve not shown one iota of remorse.”

Shearer was also ordered to remain on the sex offenders’ register for the next decade.