A Harmony man was sentenced to spend 14 to 34 years in prison for a crime that’s divided a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He remains adamant he is innocent.

At a January hearing, Shaun Sheffer was found guilty of raping a female juvenile with autism about 25 years ago.

“He shows no remorse … he’s only gotten better at hiding who he really is,” said Brandon Sheffer, younger brother of Shaun Sheffer.

Shaun Sheffer, 47, received his sentence in front of his friends and family during a Tuesday, June 3, hearing before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Kubit.

He also was ordered to be a lifetime registrant on Megan’s Law and have no contact with the woman.

The crime occurred between 1995 and 2000 at Shaun Sheffer’s house in Callery when the female juvenile was 7 to 12 years old and he was between 17 and 22 years old.

Senior deputy attorney general Alicia Werner read impact statements from the woman and Brandon Sheffer. Defense attorney Al Lindsay called upon Shaun Sheffer’s two daughters, wife and aunt to share impact statements in support of him, who also addressed the court.

“I’m an innocent man,” said Shaun Sheffer. “I did not do these things.”

He was found guilty in a Jan. 17 hearing of one felony count each of rape, rape of a mentally disabled person and rape of a juvenile less than 13; and one misdemeanor count each of indecent assault of a juvenile less than 13, indecent assault of a mentally disabled person, indecent assault and corruption of minors.

Sheffer is one of 14 members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses across the state who were charged by the attorney general’s office in 2023 with sexually assaulting minors.

Shaun Sheffer said he’s missed milestones in the last five months between his daughter’s high school graduation and an anniversary with his wife. He asked the judge to look at the support and affect on his family.

“I was never a violent person,” he said. “The kind of things that they’re saying can’t be hidden.”

Statements from the woman and Shaun Sheffer’s younger brother contradicted those from Sheffer, his wife and children.

“I’ve lived with this dirty secret for so many years,” Werner read from the woman’s impact statement.

The woman said there were signs of Shaun Sheffer’s behavior and she was scared of both him and the secret getting out. She said she has lived with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression for more than 30 years after the crime and sees a therapist and psychiatrist.

“I don’t think I’ll ever feel like a normal person,” she said.

Brandon Sheffer further expressed frustration in his impact statement alleging defense testimony painted the woman as a liar and said his brother attempted to implicate him in the crime.

On the witness stand, Megan Sheffer described her husband as a religious man with a love of his family and motocross, a hobby he developed early in his life.

“I couldn’t have chosen a better life partner than Shaun,” said Megan Sheffer, his wife of 22 years.

She described the night before Shaun Sheffer was arrested when he went to visit his mother in the hospital. She said they discussed how their lives would be different going forward with his mother’s care, not knowing her husband would be arrested the next day.

“He’s not perfect, but he is someone to admire,” she said.

Megan Sheffer said she collected around 50 letters of support in two days from friends and family attesting to Shaun Sheffer’s character. She asked Kubit to “see the bigger picture” about the support behind him and the effect on his family.

“He means more to me than anyone on this Earth ever could,” said Olivia Sheffer, Shaun Sheffer’s 18-year-old daughter, who graduated from high school last week.

Olivia Sheffer recounted memories and hobbies she shared with her father, such as playing catch when she was little even when he was tired and riding roller coasters at Kennywood.

She explained the difficulty of attending her first inline hockey game without her dad and struggling through hobbies they used to enjoy together as other family members sat in court behind Shaun Sheffer crying.

“He always makes me feel safe,” she said.

Kathleen Smith, Shaun Sheffer’s aunt, asked the judge to “see Shaun the way I do” when recounting the family support behind him. She said he’s a good man who supports his wife and daughters and acts as “the rock in that family.”

“I’ve been there to watch him grow from a baby to the good man he is today,” she said.

Another 15-year-old juvenile also read an impact statement in support of Shaun Sheffer.

Lindsay told the judge the outpouring of support for Shaun Sheffer is the largest he’s seen in 53 years as an attorney, and Sheffer’s had no misconduct in the 25 years since the crime.

He plans to file post-sentence motions to appeal.

“For years, this defendant betrayed the trust of the victim, taking advantage of their age and mental disability in order to sexually assault a child,” Attorney General Sunday said in a Tuesday statement. “The courage of this brave survivor to come forward and the tenacity of our investigators and prosecutors means this defendant will pay for his despicable crimes.”