TV dance star Trenton Shipley fights jail sentence after drunken sex act

A TV dance star will have to wait months to learn whether he will be jailed for sexually touching a woman during a drunken night at a Sydney dance studio.

A former Dancing With the Stars contestant will soon learn whether he will be jailed after a court threw out his appeal over his conviction for sexually touching a woman during a drunken dance session and climbing into her bed naked.

Trenton Shipley, 50, on Thursday afternoon sat quietly in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court as a judge dismissed his appeal against his conviction for three counts of sexually touching a woman inside an Annandale unit and dance studio in 2021.

Judge Graham Turnbull said while there were inconsistencies in the account of the female victim - who cannot be named or identified - he found there was other supporting evidence.

Shipley, best known for his appearance on season three of Dancing with the Stars, was last year sentenced to a maximum of a year in prison after he was convicted by Magistrate Julia Virgo.

He was immediately freed on bail while he launched an appeal.

But that bid to overturn his conviction was on Thursday dismissed by Judge Graham Turnbull.

Trenton Shipley leaves the Downing Centre on Thursday after a court dismissed his appeal. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

However, in yet another twist in the tale, Shipley was not immediately taken into custody inside the Downing Centre court complex, given his appeal against his sentence is yet to be heard.

That appeal over the severity of his sentence will now be heard in May, though Judge Turnbull noted he had yet to see any expressions of contrition or remorse from Shipley.

His convictions relate to a series of incidents while Shipley was dancing with and teaching the woman at an Annandale dance studio, which belonged to a mutual friend.

After drinking and dancing, both were set to sleep in separate beds inside an apartment attached to the studio.

The court heard that during the evening Shipley was drinking from an open bottle of vodka and told the woman “you are absolutely gorgeous”.

The most serious of the offences related to an incident during which early in the morning Shipley climbed into the woman’s bed while naked.

Trenton Shipley during his appearance on Dancing With The Stars. Picture: Supplied.

The woman gave evidence during the local court trial that he touched her vagina and breasts over her clothes.

The woman told the court at the time that as Shipley climbed on top of her, he told her loved her and should marry him, and said: “This is how it works.”

Judge Turnbull noted there were inconsistencies in her evidence including the “troubling” finding that she sent two Snapchat messages to a friend as he climbed into her bed.

The woman made no mention of the Snapchat message, or the photographs she took, however it was revealed when another witness gave evidence about it at trial, the court heard.

The court heard she wrote on one of the messages: “Oh my God he jumped into bed on me naked”.

Given that Snapchat messages automatically delete, there was no evidence of what was in the pictures or the attached captions.

However Judge Turnbull accepted other aspects of her evidence, including contemporaneous notes and complaints she made.

Mr Shipley’s defence accepted that he entered the room naked, but they argued there was not sufficient time to commit the acts.

Judge Turnbull also dismissed the appeal against his conviction for 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 May 3 when his legal team will attempt to have his sentence reduced to a non-custodial order.

He will remain on bail.