A CONVICTED paedophile denied his involvement in the disappearance of William Tyrrell while expressing sympathy for the missing boy's family, following a court appearance on Wednesday.
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Paul John Bickford, 70, pleaded not guilty that morning in Port Macquarie Local Court to the charge of failing to comply with reporting obligations under the Child Protection Act.
The charge follows his indecent assault conviction on December 19, 2014 for touching an 11-year-old girl intimately on the outside of her clothing during a short car trip to buy lollies.
In a separate matter, Bickford was named a person of interest after being repeatedly questioned late last year by detectives attached to Strike Force Rosann, the group tasked to find William Tyrrell.
On Wednesday he fronted the media on the steps and defended his support for the Tyrrell family.
"I feel very sorry for the family, I really do," he said.
"Why can't I feel compassion for a child?"
He said he was an "acquaintance" of fellow person of interest Tony Jones, but denied they were friends and said he "wouldn't have any idea" what Jones was doing on the day of William Tyrrell's disappearance.
Both men are paedophiles who were previously involved with the Port Macquarie-based group Grandparents as Parents Again.
Jones, 60, was sentenced to serve two years in prison following his conviction in September last year for indecent assault, while a vehicle was seized by police from his neighbours' Wauchope property the same month.
Jones knows another person of interest in the case, William Spedding, from when the two lived in the central western town Wellington.
None of the three men have been charged in relation to William Tyrrell's disappearance.
On Wednesday Bickford said the last time he spoke with Jones was at Wauchope's Hastings Hotel, though the two had not been in contact on the day of William Tyrrell's disappearance or since.
The 2009 Mid-North Coast senior volunteer of the year said while police had questioned him twice, they had "never searched" his Port Macquarie home.
He also appeared to cast doubt on the investigation of the disappearance.
"There's something very strange about the whole business," he said.
"I'm only a layman but I'm telling you now there's more to it than meets the eye, definitely more to it."
He will next appear in court on the failure-to-report charge on March 2.