Key figure in William Tyrrell case ‘has no alibi’

A man who has twice been cleared of murder and twice convicted of the sexual assault of children, has been unable to provide police with an alibi for the day of the boy’s disappearance.

William was in foster care when he went missing in Kendall on September 12, 2014. Picture: Supplied

A key person of interest in the ­disappearance of William Tyrrell – a man who has twice been cleared of murder and twice convicted of the sexual assault of children – has been unable to provide police with an alibi for the day of the boy’s disappearance.

Frank Abbott, who was in the late 1990s twice cleared of the murder of a 17-year-old girl and who is now serving time for the sexual assault of three young children, was living in a caravan about 12km from the township of Kendall on the NSW mid-north coast in September 2014 when William went missing.

Although now an old man, he once had a three-year-old boy of his own who died in circumstances that can’t be made public.

The NSW coroner investi­gating William’s disappearance has sealed the file, citing con­fidentiality of the police investigation. The revelation was made during Sunday night’s episode of The Disappearance of William Tyrrell on the Seven Network.

Abbott, who is in his 80s and likely to see out his last days in prison, has shown great interest in the coronial inquiry into the abduction and likely murder of William, who was in foster care when he went missing about 10.30am on September 12, 2014.

He attended every day, via Zoom from a jail cell when the inquest was in session, before Covid-19 caused its shut down.

Police have asked Abbott about his movements on the day William disappeared, after one of his friends, who has since died, told them he believed he might have been tricked by a friend into taking William on the ­Pacific Highway towards Queens­land, a day after the abduction. The Seven Network obtained CCTV footage that shows the friend’s car on the road.

Abbott has not been able to find anybody to vouch for his movements. He insists he had nothing to do with William’s disappearance, and The Australian does not suggest otherwise, only that police have asked for his ­assistance in the investigation.

Criminal profiler Kris Illings­worth told the program that the “last roar that William made” when he was playing Daddy Tiger in the garden “was especially loud, as though he’s roaring at someone”.

She said she believes the offender “acted with great boldness, and skill and cunning” in deciding to take the boy when he was for a moment unattended.

Former Australian Federal Police commander Grant Edwards told the program that experienced pedophiles like Abbott can present as friendly and welcoming toward children, before snatching them. “They can present across the spectrum from saints to the absolute nastiest people in the world,” he said.

“You have those people, the way they present, you struggle in your mind to rationalise why they do what they do.

“I have seen people arrested, and thought, wow I would never have thought that person to be a pedophile. You just don’t know who you’re dealing with.

“They live a normal life (or) what we believe to be a normal life. But behind that normal life, there’s a very, very sordid life, a second life that they live.”

Child protection advocate Adam Washbourne told the program police had not wanted to reveal the number of pedophiles living around Kendall at the time of William’s disappearance.

“There were 20 sex offenders in the Kendall area,” he said. “Do you think there’s a street where there isn’t a registered sex offender? I’ve got news for you if you do. They are in every town, every suburb, the safest places. They are monsters, predators, stalkers, and they live among us.”