William Tyrrell’s former foster father charged with giving false or misleading evidence

The former foster father of missing toddler William Tyrrell has been charged with giving false or misleading evidence to the NSW Crime Commission.

Missing toddler William Tyrrell. Picture: File

The former foster father of missing toddler William Tyrrell has been charged with giving false or misleading evidence to the NSW Crime Commission, it can be revealed, following a revision of non-publication orders surrounding the case.

The case has been subject to strict suppression orders but these were varied on Wednesday morning in the Downing Centre Local Court.

The foster mother, 56, and foster father, 54, were charged in November 2021 in relation to the alleged assault of a child – not William Tyrrell – and have pleaded not guilty. Neither can be named for legal reasons.

William’s foster mother was charged in February with a new offence of common assault but it is also not linked to the missing toddler. Her lawyer indicated the woman would plead not guilty to the fresh charge.

It was revealed last year that the foster mother and now-deceased foster grandmother were being treated as persons of interest in William’s disappearance. They both denied any wrongdoing and no charges have ever been laid.

Aged three at the time of his disappearance, William went missing on the morning of September 12, 2014 from the property that then belonged to his foster grandmother., prompting an extensive, years-long search.

Strike Force Rosann investigators ended renewed search efforts late last year after spending about a month combing bushland in Kendall on the NSW mid north coast near the house where William was last seen in September 2014. Those efforts were unsuccessful, and excavations of sites around William’s foster grandmother’s home ceased in mid-December.

The $1m reward for information that leads to the recovery of William, and the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, remains in place.

The foster mother and foster father will both return to court in April.