The first man to be charged in connection with abuse allegations at a Jersey children’s home has appeared in court.

Gordon Wateridge, 76, a former warden at Haut de la Garenne, is accused of indecently assaulting three girls under the age of 16 between January 1969 and December 1973. He spoke only to confirm his name at St Helier Magistrates’ Court. The case was adjourned for four weeks.

Mr Wateridge was born in Croydon, Surrey, and lives in the Jersey parish of St Clement. He is also charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm.

Although Mr Wateridge worked at the former children’s home his arrest is unconnected with the discovery of a fragment of a child’s skull at the site and the continuing scientific search.

The skull fragment dates from the 1920s at the earliest, it was reported yesterday. Archaeologists working at the site have said that carbon dating tests are still being carried out.

Haut de la Garenne is at the centre of one of Britain’s biggest abuse investigations with more than 100 people claiming that they were assaulted there from the 1960s until its closure in 1986. Detectives have uncovered four underground chambers which some former residents have claimed were used as punishment rooms.

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