Man at centre of William Tyrrell investigation arrested over alleged child sex abuse.

Trigger warning: This post deals with child sexual abuse and may be triggering for some readers.

William Spedding has been arrested and faces charges relating to child sex abuse.

A man at the centre of the search for missing toddler William Tyrrell has been arrested by police over charges relating to the sexual abuse of children.

The charges do not relate to William Tyrrell, who disappeared from his grandmother’s home last year.

Washing machine repairman William Spedding, commonly known as Bill, was arrested at his Bonny Hills home and taken to the police station, where it is expected he will be charged, Seven News reports.

BREAKING @7NewsSydney Bill Spedding, man at centre of #WilliamTyrrell disappearance, arrested by @NSWPolice Homicide. pic.twitter.com/qdRC9QTIDk

— Robert Ovadia (@RobertOvadia) April 22, 2015

“He was taken to the Port Macquarie Police Station where he is being questioned by police about the alleged sexual assaults of two girls, aged three and six, in 1987 in Sydney,” a statement released by police a short time ago reads.

Police have previously investigated Mr Spedding, who visited the home prior to the William Tyrtell’s disappearance to fix the grandmother’s washing machine. Earlier this year, authorities searched Mr Spedding’s home and seized a computer and other items.

On Monday, detectives spent more than an hour at the repairman’s property — and Sky News reports that at that time, Mr Spedding was a ‘person of interest’.

Police are following several lines of inquiry into the disappearance of William Tytrell, and one of those lines relates to a paedophile ring.

There is no confirmed connection between Mr Spedding and this line of inquiry.

Investigations are continuing.

Listen to The Quicky debrief on the truth about William Tyrrell’s parents, and what happened after the three-year-old’s disappearance.

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