Shane Allison, 43, of unincorporated Fenton has been sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a blind woman last year in a Fenton bar, court records show.
Allison, who previously lived in Arnold, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault on Dec. 23 in St. Louis County Court, and Div. 19 Circuit Judge Thomas C. Albus handed down the sentence, court documents show.
After the Oct. 5, 2019, incident, Allison initially was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, a class C felony punishable by three to 10 years in prison, but the charge was reduced. The third-degree assault charge is a class E felony that carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
In his plea, Allison admitted he “knowingly caused physical injury” to the victim “by squeezing her.”
Allison didn’t know the victim, who was sitting at the bar in 026 Bar and Grill, 515 Gravois Road, in Fenton when he approached her. While the two were talking, he allegedly grabbed her hand and touched her leg. The woman told Allison several times to stop touching her, but he did not stop and eventually grabbed her genitals “so hard that she could not remove his hand.” In addition, he reportedly caused the woman pain, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
Other people at the bar reportedly saw the abuse and told Allison to leave. After a struggle, he ultimately was forced out of the bar, the report said.
Police were called to the bar at about 10 p.m. and found Allison’s wallet, which he had left behind. When officers went to his home on Rocky Drive to arrest Allison later that night, he appeared “highly intoxicated” and said he didn’t remember what happened at the bar, according to the report.