VIRGINIA BEACH — A former city police officer accused of sexually assaulting a woman after she was involved in a car accident was acquitted Thursday.

Jurors in Virginia Beach Circuit Court deliberated about 1½ hours before announcing their verdict in the case of Sean Fearon. The now 23-year-old former officer had been charged with object sexual penetration and abduction with the intent to defile, and could have faced up to two life sentences if convicted of both counts. After the verdict was announced, Fearon sobbed and hugged defense attorney Kristin Paulding.

“He was so emotional,” Paulding said afterwards. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been hugged that hard.”

Fearon’s trial began Monday and ended Thursday with his testimony. The Chesapeake Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office agreed to handle the case after Virginia Beach prosecutors recused themselves because one of their attorneys was a potential witness in the case.

Fearon was on duty on the afternoon of June 12, 2024, when he came upon an accident in the Haygood area. A 19-year-old woman had rear-ended her SUV into another vehicle and her car was leaking fluid, Fearon said. He told the woman he was going to call for a tow truck, but she asked him to instead let her take it to a Jiffy Lube. Fearon said he told her the car was not drivable, instructed her to park it in a nearby bank parking lot and followed her there.

Fearon’s and the woman’s testimony differed from there. The officer had his body cam on at some times during the encounter but turned it off at others.

He told jurors the woman was flirting with him and at one point reached over and rubbed his crotch. The woman testified she was sitting in her vehicle and talking to Fearon when he reached in through the driver’s side window and penetrated her with his finger.

Fearon can be heard offering to pay for the woman’s car repairs on a video she recorded with her phone. On the officer’s body camera video, the woman is heard telling him, “Come here baby.” The encounter between the two ended with Fearon driving the woman home, where the body cam captures her asking if she can hug him.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Madeline Woodruff argued that Fearon was lying and had been inconsistent with his statements. Paulding accused the alleged victim of doing the same during her testimony.

For instance, the woman testified during trial that Fearon grabbed her hand and put it on his crotch, Paulding said, but in the past had admitted to doing it on her own. The woman also had denied being drunk, but testified at trial she was intoxicated and that she was being compliant and flirtatious with Fearon to avoid being charged with drunken driving.

“Compliance is not consent,” Woodruff told jurors. “The defendant knew what he was doing. He had all the power in this situation.”

While Paulding agreed that Fearon’s behavior that day was reprehensible, she argued there was no evidence that he ever used force, made threats, or did anything to intimidate the woman or prevent her from leaving. The officer resigned from the police force after he was charged.