William Tyrrell ‘person of interest’ has historic child sex charges dismissed
A MAN previously named by police as a person of interest in the disappearance of NSW toddler William Tyrrell has had historic child sex abuse charges against him dismissed in a Victorian court.
NSW
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A MAN previously named by police as a person of interest in the disappearance of NSW toddler William Tyrrell has had historic child sex abuse charges against him dismissed in a Victorian court.
William Spedding had been facing two charges of sexually penetrating a child aged under 10 and five counts of indecent assault between 1983 and 1987 at Corio and Clarendon near Ballarat.
But prosecutors withdrew the 67-year-old’s charges in the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court today.
The white goods repairman has denied the allegations and was not required to appear in court.
“I will mark all charges as withdrawn,” Magistrate Ronald Saines said.
The handyman has always strenuously denied involvement and homicide detectives have previously said he was only one of many suspects in the investigation.
Spedding was questioned because he had quoted to fix William’s grandmother’s washing machine around the time the three-year-old in the Spider-Man suit went missing from her garden in the town of Kendall, near Port Macquarie.
Police spent days scouring bushland and neighbouring houses to no avail.
An unprecedented $1 million reward for information leading to the boy’s return remains on offer in one of Australia’s most perplexing unsolved crimes.
Spedding’s Victorian matter will return to Ballarat Magistrates’ Court for a costs application on September 20.
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