Allegations that William Tyrrell’s former foster parents manipulated the sale of a home they owned on Sydney’s upper north shore led to their appearance in court.
Police claim that the unnamed couple submitted a fictitious bidder to increase the price of the Killara house up for sale in December 2020.
They were each accused of dishonestly getting a financial advantage or inflicting harm by fraud on one count.
Friday’s brief hearing in Parramatta Local Court saw prosecutors announce they would drop the current accusations in favour of a lesser regulatory charge.
The NSW Department of Fair Trading must give permission before police can file the fresh charges.
The couple’s attorney informed the court that they had come to an agreement late on Thursday night to plead guilty to the new counts.
The next hearing will take place on September 4.
The 2014 disappearance of William Tyrrell, who was three years old when he disappeared from a house owned by his grandmother in Kendall on New South Wales’ mid-north coast, is shrouded in mystery.
In the years following his disappearance, police have continually looked for answers. In December 2020, they thoroughly searched the Kendall property.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) received a brief from detectives in June that included evidence against William’s foster mother and a recommendation that she be charged with perverting the course of justice and tampering with a corpse.
Lawyers for the foster mother asked detectives to reply to claims that she was the subject of criminal proceedings related to William’s disappearance.
In a statement, the attorneys said that the foster mother “has always maintained she has nothing to do with William’s disappearance.”
The woman, who was in her late 50s, was found not guilty in 2022 of lying to the NSW Crime Commission about using a wooden spoon to strike a separate youngster.
