THE man in charge of Castle Howard for 30 years until 2015 sexually abused a child, a York jury decided.

Allegations that Simon Howard attempted to rape a woman in a separate incident have been left on file.

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He will be on the sex offenders’ register for five years.

The 65-year-old, who now lives in Norton, did not attend any hearing of the case at York Crown Court because psychiatrists declared him mentally unfit to stand trial.

He had suffered irreparable brain damage from a fall at his home in early 2020.

He was not convicted of any crime because his case was dealt with under legislation for defendants who are mentally ill or insane.

His trial was held last month but reporting restrictions meant that it could not be reported until now.

The jury heard the child, now a woman, describe how Howard indecently assaulted her and incited her to commit an act of gross indecency when she was under 10 years old.

They heard she ran straight to tell her mother after the incident and her parent confronted Howard.

They also heard that when the mother challenged Howard about it, he claimed he had been demonstrating to the child what boys did in the school bus she used.

“I knew straightaway it was a lie,” the mother told the jury. “My daughter never went on the school bus.”

The mother told the jury the child’s parents decided not to tell police because Howard was a “high profile person” and they didn’t want to expose their daughter to the trauma police involvement would involve.

The jury heard the child told a cousin and her husband that she had been abused when she was a youngster.

But she didn’t tell the police until decades after it had happened.

Following his arrest, Howard told police he remembered being challenged by the mother but denied describing any sexual activity.

He repeatedly denied that he had done anything inappropriate.

The abuse happened shortly after Howard took over running of the stately home.

He was still in charge of Castle Howard when he allegedly attempted to rape a woman.

She came forward after he had been charged with the sexual offences with the child and made claims about his actions towards her.

She alleged it had occurred years ago.

The judge criticised the years-long delay between Howard’s arrest and him being charged, saying that had there not been the delay, Howard may have been able to stand trial.

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