Jersey police make third arrest as parts of 'at least two children' confirmed in cellar of children's home

A third man has been arrested in connection with Jersey sex abuse allegations as police confirm remains found at a former children's home are human 'beyond doubt'.

The 45-year-old suspect was held in custody over 'serious sexual crimes' alleged to have taken place at the home in the 1970s and 1980s.

Five teeth unearthed in a cellar at Haut de la Garenne over the past seven days are from at least two different children, detectives said.

Painstaking tests conducted on the teeth revealed that most were 'very unlikely to have come out naturally before death'.

These results back up suspicions held by detectives that children were murdered during the time they spent living at the home.

Over the course of the investigation, a total of ten teeth and at least 30 charred human bone fragments have been discovered.

But police faced criticism after forensic experts proved that a fragment of what was thought to be a child's skull was probably a piece of wood or a coconut shell.

Detectives are bound to feel relieved that these results show their investigation is on the right track.

Most of these finds have been made in a fireplace in one of the underground chambers at the home where victims claim they were physically, sexually and emotionally abused.

Police search the former children's home of Haut De La Garenne

The forensic breakthrough raises the possibility that children's bodies were cremated in the fireplace in an attempt to remove any evidence of foul play.

A police spokesman said: 'There were two teeth which were the same in the five, which means that beyond doubt there were teeth from at least two children.'

The inquiry team, which is investigating allegations of abuse and possible murder at Haut de la Garenne between the 1950s and when it closed in 1986, believes the teeth have been lying in the cellar from the 40s onwards.

Detectives, however, have not yet been given an exact date for the teeth. Estimates by forensic experts range from pre-Second World War to as recently as the 70s and 80s.

If it emerged that they were from the 50s onwards, officers would launch a homicide inquiry.

Police have been searching the home since February

Police have said there are more than 40 suspects, although until now only two people had been arrested in connection with alleged child abuse.

A Jersey Police spokeswoman said: 'The States of Jersey Police can confirm that a third man has been arrested in connection with the ongoing historical abuse inquiry.

'This is in connection with alleged serious sexual crimes at Haut de la Garenne in the 1970s and early 1980s.

'The arrest of the man, 45, who is Jersey-born, took place in the UK yesterday.

'The man was brought back to Jersey last night and is now in custody at police headquarters. He will be questioned during today.

'The States of Jersey Police will not release the name of the man unless he is charged."

The suspect is the second man to be arrested in connection with alleged child abuse at home.

Gordon Claude Wateridge, 76, originally from Croydon, south London, is charged with three offences of indecent assault on girls under 16 between 1969 and 1979.

A third man has been arrested as part of the wider abuse inquiry.

Claude Donnelly, 68, of St Brelade, is charged with raping and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl on Jersey between 1971 and 1974.

Neither man has entered a plea.