Pastor walks free after he denies abuse of sisters

A MARRIED church pastor accused of sexually assaulting four members of his congregation walked free from court yesterday.

Neill Shaw had denied abusing three sisters and another young woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, between 2009 and 2012.

Shaw was sacked from his job with the Christian Growth Centre in Paisley, Renfrewshire, and went on trial on six charges at the town’s sheriff court last week.

Prosecutors claimed he carried out the attacks at the church and other addresses i n Paisley, Glasgow and Neilston. Shaw told the jury he was ‘ashamed’ of his ‘inappropriate and wrong’ conduct but insisted he had not abused any of the girls.

He claimed he started a consensual affair with one of the girls after she turned 18, and told the jury he never abused the others.

Shaw, 34, of Langbank, Renfrewshire, claimed the young woman with whom he was having an affair made malicious allegations against him out of spite.

He denied assaulting another girl in his car by rubbing her legs through her clothes, and sexually assaulting her sister repeatedly by undressing her, touching her inappropriately and forcing her to touch his private parts. The jury found these charges not proven.

His wife Fiona showed no emotion as he admitted cheating on her but hugged him after Sheriff Robert Fife said he could leave a free man.