William Tyrrell’s foster parents charged with alleged assault of a child
WILLIAM Tyrrell’s foster parents have been charged over the alleged assault of a child – not William – on Sydney’s upper north shore.
In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, NSW Police said the couple were charged with common assault of a child who could not be named for legal reasons.
“As part of ongoing investigations under Strike Force Rosann, detectives from the Homicide Squad received information relating to the suspected assault of a child at a home on Sydney’s Upper North Shore,” a NSW Police spokesperson said.
“Following inquiries, Strike Force Rosann detectives served Court Attendance Notices
on legal representatives of a 56-year-old woman and a 54year-old man earlier today.”
The pair are due to appear at Hornsby Local Court on Tuesday.
The charges do not relate to William.
Earlier, detectives searching the Kendall home of William’s foster grandmother were said to be focusing their investigation into his disappearance on the child’s foster mother.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the 56-year-old woman, who had been caring for William and his sister since March 2012, is now a police suspect, although there is no suggestion she is guilty of any crime.
On Monday, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said “there is one person in particular we are looking closely at”.
It comes as police earlier seized a car that once belonged to William Tyrrell’s foster grandmother, who died in March aged 88, from a home 375km south as the search for the missing boy’s body continues.
The vehicle, a silver Mazda hatchback, was seized from a home in Gymea, in the Sutherland Shire, under a coronial order on November 9.