William Tyrrell person of interest Paul John Bickford denies involvement in his disappearance

A CONVICTED paedophile who is a person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell, has laughed off suggestions he was involved.

Paul Bickford Port Macquarie Court

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A CONVICTED paedophile and person of interest in the disappearance of William Tyrrell has laughed off suggestions he was involved in the boy’s suspected abduction.

Speaking with media today outside Port Macquarie Local Court, Paul John Bickford insisted he had never been involved in a paedophile ring suspected of operating on the NSW mid-north coast.

Bickford earlier appeared in court for a separate matter after allegedly breaching orders imposed upon his conviction last year for indecently assaulting an 11-year-old girl with Asperger’s syndrome.

William Tyrrell disappeared from Kendall more than a year ago.

The former president of the Grandparents As Parents Again group, which came under the scrutiny of Strike Force Rosann detectives investigating William Tyrrell’s disappearance, described himself as “just an ordinary guy, really”.

He admitted he had been interviewed twice by police about William, who would now be four years old.

“I’m just being what I always am,” Bickford said.

“I’m telling you the truth, and whether you choose to believe it or not, well that’s really not up to me. It’s up to the public.”

Bickford, said he was “very sad” for William, describing the enduring mystery surrounding his disappearance as “a great tragedy”.

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“I feel very sorry for the family, I really do, but there is something very, very strange about the whole business,” he said.

“I’m only a layman but I’m telling you now, there’s definitely more to it than meets the eye.”

Bickford questioned why it had taken a year for police to announce there were two suspicious cars sitting outside his grandparents’ house in Kendall, where he went missing.

“I don’t know where that place is anyway, but I would gather from what we’ve seen that it was very close to the bush because that’s where everybody went to look for the child.”

William Tyrrell’s disappearance is still a mystery.

Bickford is a person of interest in William’s disappearance.

Bickford said his most recent interview with Strike Force Rosann investigators occurred just four months ago.

“The first one went for just over an hour and the second one probably went for about 15 minutes,” he said.

“They just asked me where I was, what I was doing ... the normal things you would probably ask.”

Bickford said he didn’t know the Tyrrell family, or Bill Spedding — another person of interest in the case.

However, he conceded that he did know Anthony “Tony” Jones, another former member of the Grandparents As Parents Again group who is a person of interest, and who has been convicted of numerous assaults on women and children dating back to the 1970s.

But Bickford said Jones was just “an acquaintance”, rather than a close friend.

“I haven’t got the faintest idea what Tony has done or hasn’t done,” he said.

Both Spedding and Jones deny any involvement in the disappearance of William.

Bickford has not entered a plea to failing to comply with reporting obligations under the Child Protection Act.

Police allege he broke those obligations between 8am and 11am on October 13 last year.

He is due to appear in court again on March 2.