Ex-boss of Bridgerton estate denies child sex charges
Simon Howard will be back in court in March
Last updated 15th Feb 2021
The former boss of an estate in North Yorkshire that was recently seen in the Netflix series Bridgerton has denied child sex abuse charges.
Simon Howard appeared via video link in court on Monday- where he indicated that he will plead not guilty to the accusations.
The court heard that he is charged with one count of indecent assault against a girl under the age of 14 and another of inciting the same girl to commit an act of gross indecency.
Both offences are alleged to have taken place between January 1 and March 31 1984.
A judge told Howard: "The matters you face are too serious to be dealt with at this court and so they will be allocated to the crown court at York and your first appearance there will be on March 15.''
In a statement released last week, Mr. Howard's family said: "We are shocked by these allegations and are fully supportive of Simon Howard's confidence that he is innocent of all charges - which he denies in the strongest possible terms.''
The family said the charges are indecent assault and incitement to commit an act of gross indecency, and result from a single alleged incident.
Mr. Howard was in charge of Castle Howard between 1983 and 2015, when he stepped down to hand the running over to a company.