Bill Spedding was living with three children

The NSW Ombudsman is investigating how Bill Spedding was living with three children when William Tyrrell dis­appeared.

Bill Spedding is taken away by police after his arrest. Picture: Nathan Edwards

The NSW Ombudsman is invest­igating how a “person of interest” to the William Tyrrell police inquiry­ was living with three children when William dis­appeared, des­pite authorities knowing he alleg­edly committed child abuse a quarter-century before.

The mother of the three boys has asked the Ombudsman to establish how they came to be sharing a house with Bill Spedding, who was arrested over the alleged abuse last week.

“Someone … needs to be held accountable,” said the woman, who cannot be named. The Ombudsman’s office confirmed it was “making inquiries”.

Mr Spedding, a whitegoods repairman from the NSW mid-north coast, appeared in court last week charged with repeatedly ­assaulting two young sisters in Sydney during 1987.

Police allege the abuse took place in a caravan on a property belonging to one of Mr Spedding’s friends in Campbelltown, in southwest Sydney.

Detectives have said the case is unrelated to William’s disappearance and Mr Spedding’s lawyer told a court last week the 63-year-old “will deny these allegations until his final breath”.

Court documents show case notes held by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services since 1987 detail reports that Mr Spedding allegedly ­assaulted the two girls, then aged three and six.

Medical records from the time, in the form of Sexual Assault ­Referral Unit Protocol documents, state the girls suffered injuries “consistent with penetration”, the court documents said.

William was last seen at his grandmother’s home in Kendall, on the NSW mid-north coast, on the morning of September 12 last year.

Mr Spedding, who was publicly identified as one of a number of “persons of interest” during the subsequent police investigation, was living with the three boys in his home in nearby Bonny Hills at the time.

He has repeatedly denied having anything to do with what happened to William. The three children are now living elsewhere.

A police facts sheet, presented to the court last week, said Mr Spedding was “in negotiations … to regain access to” the children before his arrest.

“Police hold serious concerns for the safety of these children if the accused is once more given access,” the document said.

The boys’ mother said yesterday she raised the allegations surrounding the alleged 1987 abuse involving Mr Spedding during a meeting with state authorities roughly 2½ years ago.

She recently complained to the NSW Ombudsman, asking for an investigation into how her children came to be living with Mr Spedding.

The boys’ grandfather said he did not know what would now happen to the children, and had been told only that the authorities were “looking into it”.

“I am very concerned about what may have happened to my grandchildren,” he said.

Neither he nor the boys’ mother can be named for legal reasons that also restrict what can be said about the children themselves. The boys’ mother said she had been warned not to speak to the press.

The police facts sheet said detectives had spoken to a number of people who reported Mr Spedding’s alleged abuse of the two girls in 1987. These included the alleged victims, their relatives and medical professionals.

Police also uncovered “records held by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services concerning the accused and serious allegations of persistent sexual abuse … in the mid to late 1980s”, the facts sheet said.

“Police have been informed the offences … were not pursued formally by police at the time of disclosure due to concerns as to the welfare of the victims, given their tender age,” it said.

In a written statement, the Department of Family and Community Services said it could not comment “as this matter is currently subject to an ongoing police investigation”.

A spokesman for the NSW Ombudsman said: “I can confirm the mother has made contact with our office. Our office had already started to make inquiries regarding the matter prior to
this contact.”