Soham accused Mr Ian Huntley was charged with rape in 1998, his Old Bailey murder trial heard today.
The jury heard details of a police statement made by his ex-girlfriend Ms Maxine Carr on August 17th last year after the couple were both arrested on suspicion of the murders of two 10-year-old schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
In the statement, she said: "The reason why I told the police I was at home was because my partner Ian, he was accused in 1998 of attacking a girl, of raping a girl." She said the case went to court and that he was "acquitted" but that he subsequently suffered "a nervous breakdown".
Earlier, the jury heard a pathologist cast doubt on his account of how they died. Home Office pathologist Dr Nat Cary said it was "unlikely at the least" Holly could have drowned in Mr Huntley's bath as a result of a fall.
He also expressed surprise there was no evidence of Holly's blood on her top or elsewhere if she had gone to the bathroom with a nosebleed, as Mr Huntley claims.
The Old Bailey jury heard former caretaker Mr Huntley's version of events for the first time yesterday.
His lawyer Mr Stephen Coward QC said he claimed Holly died after falling into his water-filled bath as he tried to treat her for a nosebleed.
Jessica died as Mr Huntley put his hands over her mouth to try to stop her screams, the court heard.
The jury has already heard that Mr Huntley admits putting the 10-year-olds' bodies in his red Ford Fiesta and driving them to the remote ditch near Lakenheath, Suffolk, where they were found.
The prosecution alleges Mr Huntley murdered the two girls, but says it cannot put forward a definitive version of events after they entered his home, sometime after 6.30pm on Sunday August 4th.
Dr Cary told the court that drowning in bathrooms usually happened when people were drunk or on drugs.
He added that he was not aware of any previous cases where someone was drowned in such a confined space when there were two other people present.
He continued: "It does seem unlikely at the least that a fit 11-year-old girl (sic) could have slipped into a pre-run bath of water and drowned in the presence of two others.
Mr Huntley (29), a former caretaker at Soham Village College, denies murdering Holly and Jessica, but has admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
His ex-girlfriend Ms Maxine Carr (26), a former classroom assistant at the girls' primary school, denies conspiring to pervert the course of justice and two charges of assisting an offender.
PA