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Man in court on child rape charge
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A man has appeared in court in Jersey charged with raping and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
Claude Donnelly, of St Brelade, was charged with assaulting the girl between 1971 and 1974 on the Channel Island.
The balding 68-year-old, wearing a grey fleece, was also charged with gross indecency when he appeared before magistrates in St Helier.
Donnelly spoke only to confirm his name and reserved his plea on all three charges.
He was granted conditional bail and is next due to appear at the court on May 28 when the case is expected to be committed to the Jersey Royal Court.
The charges were made by police investigating alleged abuse at the former Jersey children's home Haut de la Garenne, but officers said the allegations did not relate directly to the home.
They are part of a wider inquiry into alleged abuse of children on the island.
The charge sheet states that the alleged rape took place in St Helier between March 1971 and March 1972 against the 12-year-old, identified as Witness A.
Donnelly is alleged to have indecently assaulted the same girl between March 1971 and March 1974 when she was aged between 12 and 15.
The third charge claims Donnelly made the girl carry out an act of gross indecency on him between the same dates.
