A former probation officer was arrested after he confessed to the dean of a cathedral that he had sexually abused a young girl.

Mark Barnard later complained that he had not been warned he would be reported to the police after the cathedral’s “safeguarding children officer” had been told.

The seemingly respectable 76-year-old, who was employed in the probation service for 26 years and was also a United Nations worker, molested the girl in the Sevenoaks area in the summer of last year.

Maidstone Crown Court heard one assault happened after the former medical student pretended to carry out surgery on the victim.

Barnard, of Hall Drive, Sydenham, near Lewisham, south east London, admitted two offences of sexual assault.

He denied another similar charge and it was left on the court file.

Prosecutor Amanda Kelly said Barnard was a worshipper at Southwark Cathedral when he made the startling confession to Dean Andrew Nunn, adding he felt a hypocrite to be involved in the church.

Miss Kelly said: “He said it went against all his values and he had no sexual interest in children.”

The married father-of-two also wrote a letter to the child’s mother apologising for the abuse.

He told her it lasted a matter of seconds and happened in “a moment of madness”. But he also tried to blame the girl.

The prosecutor added: “He gave the mother a letter acknowledging what he had done and apologising for it,” said Miss Kelly.

“However, the mother said the defendant seemed to enjoy talking about what he had done and, in her opinion, showed no remorse and kept trying to rationalise what he had done and insinuate the child had instigated what happened through sexual curiosity.”

Jailing Barnard for three years on Monday, Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said: “One can only imagine what the long-term effects of your behaviour will be on your victim.
“The offences involved a degree of grooming and an aggravating factor is that your victim was very young.”

Barnard, who has now left the cathedral, was ordered to pay £1,500 court costs.
His name will appear on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and he will be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.