James Rowe: Former Chesterfield manager found not guilty of sexual assault

A former Chesterfield manager who confessed to cheating on his wife by enjoying a sex act with a masseuse has been cleared of sexually assaulting the woman.

James Rowe, 41, fought back tears as a jury of six men and six women declared he was not guilty of the offence which cost him his job and put “enormous strain” on his family life.

The father of two young daughters, fearing he could be jailed and placed on a sex offenders register for life if found guilty, smiled broadly as the verdict was announced at Derby Crown Court.

His wife Natalie and other family members cheered with joy from the public gallery as His Honour Judge Jonathan Bennett said: “You are free to leave the dock.”

In scenes of excitement after the seven-day trial and jury deliberation of four hours and 17 minutes, his relatives screamed and shouted “Yes!” and gave fist-pumps.

They got a sharp rebuke from the judge who had earlier warned them to keep their “emotions for outside this courtroom.”

Majority verdict

The jury had failed to reach a unanimous verdict on one charge of sexual assault and were given a direction to consider a majority verdict.

The female jury foreman said the panel had reached a 10-2 majority not guilty verdict.

The judge said: “Mr Rowe, you have been found not guilty, you are a free man.”

He added: “It has not been an easy case” before scolding cheering family members, saying: “You have done exactly what I told you not to!”

With a wry smile the judge continued: “It is as the defendant’s family must have thought that the manager is back on the touchline again.”

Mr Rowe’s accuser, a massage therapist, who had given evidence against him but cannot be named for legal reasons, was not in court to hear the verdict.

Three years of ‘living hell’

A relative of the cleared defendant, who was later seen hugging his sobbing and relieved wife, said: “James and his family have been through living hell since he was charged three years ago.

“The case has dragged on and it kept being delayed and has been a horrendous nightmare.

“It has been an enormous strain on the extended family but every single member believed James was innocent and we all supported him and stood by him.

“We are just pleased and relieved that justice has been served, a wronged man has been cleared, and he can now hopefully start to rebuild his family and working life again.

“The case should never have gone to court.”

Mr Rowe from Breaston, Derbyshire, had admitted in his evidence that he had cheated on his wife by having a brief sexual encounter with a therapist he had booked for a back massage.

He said things had got steamy in her massage room after they had exchanged some flirty text messages.

Defendant admitted to consensual act

He admitted she had willingly given him oral sex as he lay naked on a massage table and said it was a consensual act by both.

His accuser, now aged 43, who raised no formal complaint until months later after confiding in a police-officer friend, claimed he had assaulted her.

Mr Rowe, who was later charged, vehemently denied any offence, saying it was “consensual”.

He was sacked as Chesterfield manager following the accusations and a second club he had gone on to run.

The incident happened on Nov 24, 2021, in a private locked room at the therapist’s salon.

The complainant, then aged 40, had claimed in a police interview, given as key prosecution evidence, that Mr Rowe had thrust his exposed manhood into her hand several times, had unzipped her tunic and demanded to see her “big” breasts.

‘I was scared of being raped’

The alleged victim sobbed: “I was scared of being raped. I was terrified and shocked. He’s not a nice person.”

She claimed her client, whom she said had changed his request for a back massage for a groin one, had tried to unzip her tunic, saying: “Go on, let me just see your t---. You’ve got massive t---!”

She said: “He also put my hand on his penis at least three times, and my fingers touched it but I pulled away. I told him to ‘put that away’.

“He kept saying: ‘I don’t need anything from you, you need something from me!’

“He kept saying: ‘Go on, no one will know, no one will hear.’”

She further claimed he wanted her to give him oral sex and tried to touch the inside of her thigh but she said, “No. This is not happening. I am being professional. You are not calling the shots. This is a massage room.”

The woman insisted she was “not consenting in any way” to his alleged behaviour. She insisted: “I said ‘No’. I made it perfectly clear.

“Whilst he didn’t say, ‘come and have sex with me’, he tried it on and he tried to groom me into the situation.

“It was clear what he wanted and he was trying to get me to pleasure him.”

‘Seven police officers stormed into the house’

Mr Rowe, of previous good character, had been freed on bail following his arrest. Giving evidence, the defendant admitted he had let his family down by allowing the masseuse to perform a sex act on him which he “instantly regretted”.

He denied he used what the prosecutor called his “celebrity” status as the manager of Chesterfield to deliberately target the woman. He told the jury: “I have no regrets about going for the massage but I obviously have massive, massive, regrets about what unfolded in that room. It was a private matter, it should have remained private, but it did not.”

His defence barrister, Peter Eguae, asked his client: “Why do you regret what happened in that salon?” The defendant replied: “I let my family down by cheating on (my partner). I made a mistake, I instantly regretted it.”

Mr Rowe also told of the ordeal of being arrested, saying: “It was shocking. They came in a riot van and seven police officers stormed into the house.

“They said it was concerning a serious allegation. It was on social media and the news and there were messages of abuse.

“It was a traumatic time and the hate crime was the worst time of my life.

“I literally got suspended out of the blue and I felt scared and worried about what was going to happen. I felt like the rug had been pulled from under my feet.”

Mr Rowe played for a host of clubs between 2001 to 2013, starting his career at Ilkeston Town and also lining out for Grantham Town and Stamford.

He became manager of then National League side Chesterfield in November 2020, before being suspended by the club in January 2022 following the sexual-assault allegations.

A spell in charge of AFC Fylde began in March 2022. However, the day after Derbyshire Police confirmed he had been charged, Mr Rowe resigned from his role at Fylde in September that year.