Excavating equipment is moved in the grounds beside a police tent at the Haut de la Garenne Youth Hostel near St. Martin in Jersey, February 27, 2008. REUTERS/Toby Melville

LONDON (Reuters) - A 68-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of rape and indecent assault in connection with a long-running child abuse inquiry in Jersey centring around a former care home, police said on Tuesday.

The arrest did not relate to any abuse alleged to have taken place at the home in Haut de la Garenne.

The home, which closed in 1986, has been the focal point of Jersey police's historical abuse inquiry looking at possible offences dating back to the 1950s.

Of more than 40 suspects in the inquiry, 25 are related to Haut de la Garenne.

Last week forensic archaeologists discovered bone and two milk teeth after search dogs led them to an area beneath the home in the northeast of the island.

Police said in a statement on Tuesday morning: "This morning a 68-year-old man was arrested in Jersey in connection with the ongoing historical abuse inquiry.

"The man is now in custody helping police with their enquiries in connection with a number of historic rapes and indecent assaults."

Detectives are still waiting for analysis on a fragment of a child's skull found at the home under a layer of concrete by a sniffer dog.

Search teams have also found blood spots on a stone bathtub in an underground chamber which had been bricked up.

The discovery of the bath corroborated evidence given by people claiming they had been abused in the cellar.

More than 160 people have contacted police saying they were abused at the house.

Only one person so far has actually been charged in the inquiry. Gordon Wateridge, 76, faces three counts of indecent assault on girls under 16 between 1969 and 1979.

Wateridge, who is on conditional bail, is due to appear again at St Helier Magistrates' Court next month.

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