Two people were arrested yesterday in connection with a historic sex abuse investigation.

The 63-year-old man and 60-year-old woman were arrested at an address in Seaford on suspicion of indecent assault.

The offences are alleged to have taken place against a boy in north Wales between 1975 and 1976 when he was aged between 11 and 12.

The pair were arrested by detectives working on Operation Pallial, an investigation into 140 allegations relating to 18 north Wales care homes between 1963 and 1992.

The probe was launched in November and is being run by the National Crime Agency (NCA), the successor to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).

Yesterday’s arrests are the sixth and seventh in the inquiry, with one charged.

The NCA said no further information about the arrests, or the specific nature of the claims would be provided.

A spokesman said: “An update will be issued when the man and woman are charged, bailed or released from police custody following interview.”

The agency was selected to lead the operation after North Wales Police was criticised for its previous investigating of the abuse.

A report published in April revealed 84 suspects – 75 male and nine female – had been named by complainants, with 16 named by more than one victim and 10 potentially dead.

In 2000 the Waterhouse Inquiry looked into claimed links between children’s homes in Gwynedd and Clwyd since 1974.

Eight people were prosecuted and seven convicted as a result.

In July a damning report revealing “extensive” child abuse in north Wales care homes was published – 17 years late.

The Jillings Report focused on allegations of abuse in the council care system during the 1970s and 1980s and claimed police officers and other professionals were potential “perpetrators of assaults”.

But it was blocked by the then Clwyd County Council over fears of compensation claims.

The report was also highly critical of North Wales Police’s role in investigating allegations involving its own officers and other agencies.

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