William Tyrrell’s foster mother kicked an 11-year-old and beat her with a wooden spoon during clashes between the girl in two different homes on Sydney’s exclusive north shore.
The foster mother, 58, who pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting the 11-year-old, allegedly hit her the girl during one of several disciplinary sessions after the child called her a f***ing b***h ‘ had mentioned. ‘.
Police allege that the foster mother, referred to in court as ‘SD’, threatened the girl, while William’s 56-year-old foster father, known in court as ‘JS’, allegedly “grabbed” the girl by the neck and “physically restrained her from sitting down again” in the kitchen of a suburban home.
The child reportedly “begged” SD to stop, while the two defendants would subject her to a fifteen-minute “rant of verbal abuse.”
When the girl threatened to defecate on the kitchen floor, the foster mother then warned the girl that if she did, she would rub her face in it.
Police allege that when the child cried out in pain, SD forced her to sit on the floor for extended periods of time.
The foster mother then kicked the girl when she tried to get up, police say.
Details have emerged of what William Tyrrell’s foster mom (above, after pleading guilty on Monday) actually did to an 11-year-old girl
A judge has said police evidence that the schoolgirl feared threats of “physical violence, humiliation and intimidation” could well be convincing.
She later told a teacher she was afraid to go back home, police say.
In a series of incidents that took place between January and August 2021, police allege that the foster parents stalked and intimidated the girl.
While pleading guilty to two counts of assault, the foster mother insists she was not guilty of stalking the girl. The foster father has pleaded not guilty to one charge of common assault, stalking and harassment.
Prosecutors said the child used a phone without permission and that she called the foster mother “af***ing b***h.
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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 allegedly about a recording of the then elementary school girl being beaten.
Attorney John Stratton, SC, argued the repeated incidents, including a threatening warning from the foster mother that if the child continued to misbehave, “hitting her” was only “lawful punishment, not criminal activity.”
He said that if a parent’s threat to slap a child is considered criminal, “that would criminalize any household in Australia.”
But Police Detective John Marsh said the ‘clap, clap, clap’ was evident on the recording, and that the many incidents and alleged threats were ‘definitely not what (happened in) every household in Australia’.
He said a reference in a recording to a “clap, clap, clap” could have been a recording of “someone in the family banging on a desk.”
But Magistrate Susan McIntyre said she was willing to allow evidence on the stalking and harassment charges.
William Tyrrell’s parents are on trial for stalking and harassing an 11-year-old girl over an eight-month period in 2021 at two North Shore homes.
Her Honor declined a request to have the prosecution’s evidence thrown out, saying it had “probitive value” in pointing to the foster mother’s guilt.
She said it was possible that it could be proven that the girl feared that “the prospect of any form of physical violence should continue” and “the prospect that personal hygiene… (is not considered) appropriate that there should be consequences including humiliation and punishment’.
“The cumulative effect of all these incidents shows that[the foster mother]knew her behavior was likely to cause anxiety, but continued anyway.”
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’.
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.
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
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.
The foster mother (above in Kendall after William disappeared) appears before the local Parramatta court on charges of assault and stalking a child