The court will play recordings of phone taps during the appeal hearing of William’s foster parents, who were found guilty of intimidating a child who wasn’t theirs. In March, the foster parents were given a 12-month good behavior bond.
According to the court, the foster father shouted at the child and swore at him. The child cried as they were on their way to school.
The police also played recordings of the father telling the boy repeatedly to “move, move, move.”
The foster mother, on the other hand, was sentenced to three months in jail after she was caught kicking the child and threatening to slap them.
The foster mother was sentenced to a community corrections order. Her partner, on the other, was ordered to perform a good behavior bond.
The child, who was not William, disappeared in 2014 while staying with his foster grandmother at Kendall on NSW’s Mid North Coast.
The foster parents appealed against their sentences and convictions in June. Their lawyer, Phoebe MacDougall, appeared before the court on Tuesday to set a schedule for the hearings. She noted that the hearing for the foster mother’s appeal would last for two days.
The prosecutor noted that the court would have to play various phone intercepts in order to gather evidence for the appeal hearing.
The foster parents were accused of intimidation after the police found over a thousand hours of audio recordings in their home and car when they searched for William.
Some of the recordings will be used in the prosecution’s case against the foster parents.
Judge Christopher O’Brien set aside April 7 for the appeal hearing of the foster mother. On the other hand, the hearing of the father’s appeal will only last for half a day.
According to Ms MacDougall, the hearing of the appeal should be conducted separately.
She noted that the father would not be able to attend the December hearing due to his participation in an inquest regarding the disappearance of William.
Judge O’Brien scheduled the hearing of the foster father’s appeal for February 10, 2025. No one has been charged over the boy’s disappearance.
The foster parents have maintained that they have nothing to do with it.