Paedophile jailed for young girl’s 1975 brutal death

A VIOLENT paedophile was yesterday told he will probably spend the rest of his life in jail after he was found guilty of the sexually-motivated murder of 11-year-old Lesley Molseed 32 years ago.

Comic book dealer Ronald Castree, 54, thought he had evaded justice after an innocent man was jailed for the brutal murder of the tiny schoolgirl in 1976.

However, his “past caught up with him” yesterday after a jury found him guilty of the murder of Lesley who went missing from her home in Rochdale in October 1975.

A jury at Bradford Crown Court took more than 11 hours to find him guilty of the youngster’s murder by a majority of 10-2.

Stefan Kiszko wrongly served 16 years in prison for the murder until he was released in 1992. He died shortly after his release, a broken man with his family still seeking justice.

Yesterday, West Yorkshire Police repeated their apology to Mr Kiszko’s family.

A jury has heard how Castree snatched Lesley as she was running an errand for her mother from her home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

He took her to moors about 10 miles away, just over the West Yorkshire border, and sexually assaulted her before stabbing her 12 times in a “frenzied attack”. Her body was found three days later.

After the case reopened following Mr Kiszko’s release, a DNA profile was built up of the man who ejaculated over Lesley’s body. In 2005, Castree was arrested for a sex attack on a woman, but was never charged. But police took a DNA sample and this was a direct link with sample taken from the scene.

After he was arrested for murder, detectives found he had been convicted in 1976 for abducting and sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl who went to the same special school as Lesley.

Sentencing Castree to life in prison and recommending he spends at least 30 years in jail, Mr Justice Openshaw, said Castree had carried out a “truly dreadful crime on a vulnerable youngster”.

The judge acknowledged the length of this sentence meant Castree would probably spend the rest of his life in jail.

He told him: “You repeatedly stabbed her. You left her for dead. Drove back to Rochdale and carried on with the rest of your life as if nothing had happened. It was a pretence you kept up for 32 years. Your past has, however, now caught up with you.”

Lesley’s family were jubilant following the verdict, embracing each other in floods of tears.

Her mother, April Garrett, said: “We are relieved that after so long our quest for justice for Lesley is now over. It’s been a long and harrowing ordeal and our gratitude to the friends, family and strangers throughout the world who have given us their support is immense.”

Castree showed little emotion as the verdict was announced.