William Tyrrell’s foster mother suffers a major court loss – as she faces court accused of ‘threatening girl, 11, while foster father grabbed her by the neck’

William Tyrrell’s foster mother has not received a trial over allegations of stalking or harassing an 11-year-old girl, which were secretly heard.

It comes at a time when a judge said the child’s fear of “physical violence, humiliation and punishment” may have been justified.

The 58-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty on Monday to two charges of assaulting the girl.

The foster mother’s lawyer, John Stratton SC, subsequently requested that her trial for the remaining charges take place completely behind closed doors.

But Magistrate Susan McIntyre rejected the application Monday afternoon, saying it “goes beyond the principles of open justice.”

Her Honor has also denied a request to have the Prosecutor’s tendency evidence thrown out.

The magistrate ruled it had “evidence” in pointing to the guilt of the foster mother.

“I would categorize the material relied upon regarding (foster mother) SD’s behavior as threat and warning about what will happen regarding continued behavior,” she said.

Both foster parents are charged with stalking or harassing and causing fear of physical or mental harm to a child between January 26, 2021 and August 30, 2021. They have been acquitted of these charges.

The foster father is also charged with common assault on a child, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

The offenses allegedly occurred at two different residences on Sydney’s north shore.

The girl will testify via pre-recorded evidence at a week-long trial at Parramatta Local Court in western Sydney.

The court heard about heated verbal conversations between the child and about an alleged recording of the beating of the then elementary school girl.

The foster mother of missing toddler William Tyrrell (above) has failed to stand trial on charges of a young girl being secretly questioned

Attorney John Stratton SC argued that repeated incidents, including a threatening warning by the foster mother that if the child continued to misbehave, ‘she would hit her’ was only ‘lawful punishment, it is not a criminal activity’.

He said that if a parent’s threat to discipline a child is considered criminal, “that would criminalize any household in Australia.”

He said a reference to an alleged recording of the sound of three claps could be about “someone in the family beating a desk.”

But police prosecutor Superintendent John Marsh said the noises were indicated “smack, smack, smack” in a recording, and that several alleged incidents or threats against the young girl were “definitely not what (happened in) every household in Australia’.

He said there was an incident where the child used a phone without permission, then called the foster mother “af***ing b***h.”

“The cumulative effect of all these incidents shows that[the foster mother]knew her behavior was likely to cause anxiety, but continued anyway.”

William Tyrrell’s foster mother (pictured) pleaded guilty to two counts of common assault in Parramatta’s local court on Monday. The charge involved a young child, who is not William

Police allege that the foster mother threatened the girl, while her foster father allegedly grabbed her by the neck after the girl said she “hated” them.

William’s foster father allegedly “grabbed” the girl by the neck and “physically restrained her from sitting down again” in the kitchen of a suburban home.

She later told a teacher she was afraid to go back home, police will claim.

One day in November 2021, the child was placed in a 44-minute time-out period and then told the couple, named SD and JS in court, that she “hated them.”

Present at the hearing was a large group of Detectives from Strike Force Rosann, who are investigating the disappearance of William Tyrrell, including the task force commander, Superintendent David Laidlaw.

The court was told that the foster mother ‘tried to intervene in the problematic behavior of the (alleged) victim’.

She warned the girl that if she pooped on the floor, she would rub her face in it, it is said.

Police will allege that when the child cried out in pain, the female foster parent “then forced the child to the ground for an extended period of time before kicking the (alleged) victim, causing her pain and bruising.”

“The (alleged) victim would have tried to get up a number of times, but (SD) forced her to sit down.”

A post-event psychological report alleges that the child “begged” SD to stop, while the two defendants allegedly subjected her to a fifteen-minute “rant of verbal abuse.”

William Tyrrell (above) disappeared in September 2014 aged three from the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall and no trace of the toddler has ever been found

However, the defendants’ attorneys filed objections with at least one psychological expert, Dr. Banks, at the beginning of the five-day hearing.

The alleged victim spoke to her school teacher and “expressed her fear of returning home.”

SD and her husband JS were charged with common assault against the girl in late 2021, when police launched a new search in the bushland near the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall for the remains of William Tyrrell.

They have also filed guilty pleas against charges of using a bogus bidder to raise the sale price of their former ‘forever home’ for missing William on Sydney’s North Shore at a 2020 auction.

The foster father was in court with his wife, charged with the alleged assault and stalking or harassment of a child

The foster mother (above in Kendall after William disappeared) appears before the local Parramatta court on charges of assault and stalking a child

The charges have been relegated to regulatory offenses under the Property and Stock Agents Act and the pair will be convicted and fined this week.

William disappeared in September 2014 aged three in the NSW Mid North Coast town of Kendall and no trace of the toddler has ever been found.

No one has ever been charged with his disappearance.

In late 2021, another search was conducted in bushland within 700 meters of the Kendall home where William was last seen, but no items of significance have been identified.