Grandparents support group ‘under investigation’ in search for William Tyrell
A NSW senior citizens support group is reportedly being probed by police searching for missing toddler William Tyrell, after two of its former members were charged with the indecent assaults of children.
The Daily Telegraph reports the Grandparents As Parents Again (GAPA) group is being investigated by police after ex-president Paul Bickford was convicted of indecently assaulting a young girl.
Member Anthony Jones has been charged with the indecent assault of an 11-year-old child.
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Both men were arrested and charged after William went missing on September 12 last year.
Bickford is serving a 16-month sentence for his alleged crime, while Jones is still waiting on sentencing in his case.
Both the families of Bickford and Jones have reportedly been quizzed on their knowledge of any possible connection, if any, between William’s disappearance and a paedophile ring operating in the region.
Police told media no current GAPA members were being treated as persons of interest.
NSW Police would not comment on the specifics of the investigation.
Yesterday, William’s parents spoke for the first time, almost a year after their three-year-old son disappeared without a trace on the New South Wales mid-north coast.
The little boy was last seen playing in the front garden of his grandmother’s home in Kendall on September 12, wearing a spider man costume.
There has been no sign of him since.
William’s parents have opened up about the moment they realised their son was missing, with his mother telling media she knew instantly ‘something wasn’t right.’
“He was playing on the grass, I could still hear him,” she said.
“And then nothing…that was it. I just collapsed,' she recalled, 'you can't take him.'”
William’s parents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began a frantic search for the little boy and were soon joined by emergency workers and hundreds of locals.
After nearly 12 months of searching however, police have found no trace of the toddler.
Despite their ordeal however, the family are holding onto a glimmer of hope - that police haven't found any evident to suggest their little boy is not still alive.
"William was stolen - he has got nowhere to be but home," William's mother said.
Morning news break – September 5
