Three charged with historic abuse at Coventry children’s home

By The Press Association10th December 2014News EnglandChild Abuse, Childrens Care Homes, News England

Three men have been charged with the indecent assault of a child over an investigation into allegations of historic abuse at a children’s care home dating back to the 1980s.

West Midlands Police said two men aged 69, Kenneth Owen from Dickon Hill Road, in Boston, Lincolnshire, and Alan Todd from Stretton-under-Fosse, Warwickshire, had been charged with indecent assault and ill-treatment of children under 16.

They are jointly charged alongside Phillip Barnett, 61, of Hartington Crescent, Coventry, who is facing the same allegations.

The men have all been bailed to appear at Birmingham Magistrates Court on December 22, alongside a fourth man, 55-year-old Russell Garner of Orchard Street, Bedworth, Warwickshire.

Garner has been charged with ill-treatment of a child under 16, going back to 1993.

All the charges relate to incidents alleged to have taken place at the Wisteria Lodge care home in Coventry, West Midlands.

Detective Constable Emma Tyler, of West Midlands Police, said: “We would encourage anyone who has been the victim of abuse, no matter how long ago the abuse took place, to contact us on 101.”