Man, 74, charged with sex attacks on boys at Southampton children's home

A 74-year-old man has been charged with a catalogue of historical sex crimes against nine boys at a former children's home.

Colin Davis faces 36 counts of indecent assaults allegedly committed against boys aged under 18 during the 1970s and early 1980s.

The charges relate to alleged offences at the Salerno children's home in Southampton, which closed in 2013.

Davis was charged by detectives from Hampshire Constabulary's Operation Marmion inquiry into historical cases of child sexual exploitation.

Police said the investigation does not involve alleged crimes at any other children's homes or institutions.

The prosecution follows a request last year by Hampshire police and crime commissioner Simon Hayes for a review of local child sex exploitation cases between 1997 and 2013.

Mr Hayes said this week that the review had identified the need to investigate 39 cases of alleged child sex exploitation and 13 outstanding missing persons.

Davis, of Lingfield Gardens, Southampton, is on conditional bail and will appear at Southampton Magistrates' Court on January 17.