William Tyrrell’s foster parents enter court pleas to assault charges

The foster parents of missing William Tyrrell have entered pleas after being charged with the alleged assault of another child.

William Tyrrell’s foster parents will plead not guilty to assault charges against them in a case that will resume next year.

The foster mother, 56, and foster father, 54, on Friday morning entered pleas of not guilty to the alleged assault of a child, who is not William.

The couple’s legal representatives entered their pleas in front of a magistrate at Hornsby Local Court, saying they would argue to have their case dealt with under the Mental Health Act.

At least one of the parents was planning to make an application under Section 14 of the Act, the court was told.

A successful application allows a person who is charged with a criminal or traffic offence and suffers from a mental health impairment or cognitive impairment to avoid a conviction or a finding of guilt.

Neither the child nor the couple can be identified for legal reasons, while non-publication orders also restrict media reporting on the nature of the allegations.

The renewed police search for William Tyrrell’s remains is due to conclude in the coming days. Picture: Supplied

Journalists, legal representatives and William’s foster parents all watched Friday’s proceedings over audio visual link.

The couple was charged in November, coinciding with a renewed search for William that generated intense public and media interest in their family.

William, then aged 3, vanished in 2014 at his then foster grandmother’s house in Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast.

He has never been found despite years of detective work, the interrogation of people of interest and a coronial inquest that remains open.

NSW Police have said the new search, aimed at recovering his remains, will conclude this week, though there is still forensic testing to be carried out on the evidence gathered in Kendall over the past month.

The new search came after police said they were focusing on William’s foster mother as a person of interest in the case for the first time.

His foster parents have strongly denied anything to do with his disappearance.

Investigators have spent a month scouring the bushland around Kendall. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Peter Lorimer.

Magistrate Robyn Denes on Friday upheld non-publication orders over the evidence and the detail of the allegations in the case involving the couple.

She said the non-publication orders were necessary for the couple’s safety.

Ms Denes criticised the “relentless media attention” on William’s disappearance “even when there has been nothing to report”.

She said it wasn’t clear why the matter was of such interest when local courts in NSW hear “up to 100” cases of alleged assault and associated apprehended violence orders every day, with journalists rarely present.

Police were preparing to reinterview the child complainant in the case and will serve a brief of evidence by February 1, the court was told.

The case will resume later in 2022.