Jersey police investigating child abuse charge man, 68
Accusations of rape and indecent assault
Exchanges in assembly reveal island tensions
Helen Pidd
The Guardian
Detectives investigating allegations of child abuse on the island of Jersey yesterday charged a 68-year-old married man with rape, indecent assault and procuring an act of gross indecency. He is expected to appear before magistrates today.
Police also have an arrest warrant for another suspect who is wanted in connection with serious sexual assaults committed at Haut de la Garenne, the care home at the centre of the inquiry where part of a child's skull was found in February.
They expect to arrest the man in the coming week.
Claude Donnelly, from the St Brelade district of Jersey, was questioned three times yesterday by detectives about multiple sexual assaults and rapes committed against three girls in the 1960s and 1970s. He is suspected to have raped at least two other people. None of the alleged incidents took place at Haut de la Garenne.
The police officer in charge of the investigation, Lenny Harper, yesterday said the arrest was just the first of a number he expected in the coming weeks and months. There are around 40 suspects and 160 alleged victims involved in the inquiry, 100 of whom allege abuse committed at Haut de la Garenne. One man has been charged in connection with the historical child abuse inquiry.
Gordon Wateridge, 76, is due to appear in court in St Helier on May 12, accused of sexually assaulting a number of girls under 16 while he was working as a warden at Haut de la Garenne.
The small island of Jersey has found it painful being put under the spotlight of the world's media, with some politicians accusing the police of exaggerating their findings when talking to the media.
At a meeting of the states assembly in St Helier yesterday, one politician criticised Harper's handling of the case. Deputy Sean Power said it was "inappropriate" that Harper told the media in February that "what appeared to be the partial remains of a child" had been found at Haut de la Garenne, when in fact it was just a fragment of a skull which analysis later showed was possibly over 50 years old.
The minister for home affairs, senator Wendy Kinnard, said that the police briefings were entirely appropriate given the severity of the allegations being made, and that the skull "was found in suspicious circumstances".
She said she had commissioned an independent review from the Association of Chief Police Officers to look into how Harper's team had handled the inquiry so far. The first, confidential report from Acpo, which covered the period between February 29 and March 2, showed the police were doing their job well, she said.
At the states meeting yesterday it was also revealed that the law officers' department, Jersey's equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service, had turned down requests by the inquiry team for search warrants. Police sources yesterday said they had been refused three times when applying for permission to search the headquarters of the sea cadets in St Helier, where abuse has been alleged. The search was eventually carried out with help from officers from the mainland.
A source close to Harper yesterday said he had been so "severely and wilfully obstructed" in his investigation that he had come within "hours" of resigning. But the source stressed that Harper's retirement in August was unrelated and had been planned for some time.
The Inquiry
February 2008 Searches begin. Police announce that remains of a child have been found at Haut de la Garenne
February 28 "Significant" finds include shackles and a shallow concrete bath in the cellar. By now around 160 victims have come forward
March 3 Police have compiled a list of 40 suspects
April 17 A lime pit is found behind the boy's dormitory. Lime is often used to speed the decomposition of soft tissues
April 18 Police find bloodstained items in "punishment rooms"