No abuse charges for Jersey couple

A couple arrested over child abuse in Jersey will not face charges due to lack of evidence.

The 70-year-old man and 69-year-old woman were questioned in June over claims they attacked foster children in their care in the 1960s and 1970s.

But Jersey's Attorney General William Bailhache QC said: "The evidential test has not been passed, and it would be simply wrong to bring the prosecution."

The allegations made against the couple were of physical, not sexual, abuse and were not related to the Haut de la Garenne children's home.

Police received complaints from three people claiming they were the victims of "excessive corporal punishment" between 1967 and 1977.

The law officers department on Jersey said today there was "significant conflict of evidence", with some alleged victims denying they had been abused and praising the care they received.

Police investigating child abuse on the island have received complaints from around 100 people including rape, beating, drugging and systematic physical and sexual abuse from the 1960s.

Detectives have found the remains of around five children aged between four and 11 at Haut de La Garenne as well as 100 human bone fragments and 65 milk teeth.

But they fear they may never be able to launch a murder investigation due to the quality of the forensic evidence and the difficulties in dating it.

Three people have been charged since the inquiry began.

Gordon Wateridge, 76, is charged with three offences of indecent assault on girls under 16 between 1969 and 1979 while he was working at Haut de la Garenne.

Michael Aubin, 45, is charged with indecently assaulting a seven-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy and with one count of a serious sexual offence on an eight-year-old boy, all between 1977 and 1980. The charges relate to three different children at the home.

Claude Donnelly, 68, of St Brelade, is charged with raping and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl on Jersey between 1971 and 1974. The charges are not connected to Haut de la Garenne.

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