THE woman a jury decided was indecently assaulted by Simon Howard when she was a child said in a personal statement that he had “abused his position as an aristocrat”.

Reading the statement to York Crown Court, prosecution barrister Michael Smith said she felt that nobody had been able to speak up for her.

“It felt to her that it was like her shame was being covered up, not his,” he said.

She had felt angry that Howard had “taken something precious” from her without consequences and that she had lost her innocence.

In recent years “I began to reflect on the impact of what had happened and the shame, and dirtiness I have felt as a child,” she said in her statement.

She felt “it was her duty to speak up about what had been done to her”, said the barrister.

Because Howard was found to have committed the act, rather than be found guilty of an offence, the law limited what the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, could impose on him.

The judge said he could not confine him to a psychiatric unit under a hospital order, because psychiatrists had declared he didn’t suffer from an illness that could respond to treatment.

He did not need help from the probation service with regard to rehabilitation or support.

Therefore the only option available was an absolute discharge.