Convicted pedophile watches from cell as William Tyrrell inquest resumes

Frank Abbott — a convicted pedophile currently behind bars — has had his old address near where William Tyrrell disappeared searched twice.

*** FOR USE BY STELLAR MAGAZINE *** MUST NOT RUN BEFORE: FEBRUARY 23, 2020 *** STELLAR FEATURE: Caroline Overington *** last known photo of William Tyrrell ***

A convicted pedophile from the NSW mid-north coast has been invited to observe the William Tyrrell inquest from a heavy-bricked cell at the Cessnock jail.

Frank Abbott, 79, a sex offender currently serving 16 years for abusing young boys, spent Monday watching proceedings on CCTV.

He asked two questions of witnesses but is not expected to give his own testimony until next week.

Mr Abbott was living rough in a caravan in the bush near the house William disappeared from, in 2014.

Police have twice searched the site, turning an old wood pile into chips during one of those searches. Cadaver dogs have also been over the area.

The most recent search was just two weeks ago.

Mr Abbott made his appearance on a courtroom screen just moments after the inquest into William’s disappearance re-opened on Monday.

After a delay of seven months, evidence is being taken from witnesses in the mid-north township of Taree, about 45 minutes from Benaroon Drive, Kendall, where William was playing when he went missing a touch under six years ago, on 12 September 2014.

Mr Abbott has been questioned as a person of interest, although there has been no evidence presented to link him to the crime.

He told the court by videolink that he had been promised a lawyer, but then got locked in his cell on Thursday and Friday last week, and no lawyer had been in touch since.

He has been promised a Legal Aid lawyer, who should arrive before he is due to testify.

Mr Abbott chose to spend Monday listening to the evidence and could be seen on one of the courthouse screens, sitting at a desk, dressed in prison greens. He has snowy white hair, and occasionally made noises that sounded like groaning, or snoring.

He has denied any involvement in the disappearance of William, a three-year-old foster child who went missing from the mid-north coast village of Kendall whilst wearing a Spider-Man suit.

The inquest is moving at a glacial pace: it began more than a year ago, and there are still more than forty names on the witness list.

First to the stand on Monday was a local woman, Kellie Lee, whose son, whose name is suppressed, was about the same age as William.

Witness Kellie Lee attends the first day of the William Tyrrell inquest at Taree Local Court on Monday. Picture: Nathan Edwards/AAP

By chance he was visiting Kendall on the day of William’s disappearance, and wearing a Spider-Man suit.

She described making him take it off after William went missing in case people thought her son was William.

The inquest opened with NSW deputy state coroner, Harriet Grahame, again thanking William’s families – foster, and biological – for their immense patience.

“I acknowledge that keeping the faith is challenging,’ Ms Grahame said.

“Like you, I am committed to finding answers … The fact that William is still missing means that we still have reason to be here.”

The inquest also took evidence from Ms Debbie Jones, the former wife of another local pedophile, Mr Anthony Jones, who is formerly of Wauchope, about fifteen minutes from Kendall.

She told the court the she was involved with a local group called GAPA – Grandparents As Parents Again – whose president, Paul Bickford, has also been convicted of a sex crime against a child.

She remembered that Mr Bickford was “charged with an offence … I wouldn’t let him go inside after I heard those charges,” she said, but her then-husband remained friendly with him.

She said Mr Jones had come home “drunk-drunk” as in very drunk on the day of William’s disappearance. He told her he’d gone “scrapping” — looking for scrap metal to sell — and had made only enough money for a packet of cigarettes.

Mr Abbott asked a question about whether Mr Jones used to chop firewood.

She said it wasn’t uncommon for a neighbour to use a chainsaw to chop wood.

The inquest is continuing.