Martin Parish is now on the stand, he’s a local chaplain who lived on Herons Creek Rd. The court heard he met Frank Abbott through his brother Daniel Parish in 2007.
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Mr Parish told the court he attended church with Abbott several times in 2013. Geoff Owen, who repaired William’s foster grandmother’s deck in 2014 and also knew Abbott, also attended the services back then and still does.
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Mr Parish told the court “Frank would come and download on me about things that were worrying him and I’d listen”. He is asked about Ray Porter and he told the court Porter wasn’t a parishioner but would “drop in” for morning tea occasionally.
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Mr Parish told the court Abbott went to their house a couple of times, once to “look after our dogs” and another to help them in the garden. He’s asked if he was aware of him being charged with a child sex offence and he told the court he was.
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The court heard Mr Parish appealed to the parishioners for help finding Abbott somewhere to live while he was on bail. Geoff Owen volunteered to let him live in his caravan in Logan’s Crossing. The court heard Mr Parish also went to his bail hearing in support of him.
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The court heard Mr Parish and his wife continue to support Abbott. He is asked if he “accepts those jury verdicts as properly reflecting guilt on his part of those sexual offences against young children” and he responded “I have difficulty with that”
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Mr Parish is asked if he knows where Abbott was the morning William Tyrrell disappeared. He told the court “only from questions I asked Frank... personally, I don’t know”. He told the court Abbott was a “creature of habit”.
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The court is now being played a recorded phone call between Abbott and Mr Parish from August 12, 2019, while Abbott was in jail.
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Mr Parish tells Abbott during the call that his friend Ray Porter had passed away.
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The court heard during another phone call to Abbott, Mr Parish referred to his brother Daniel Parish as a “pathological liar”.
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Counsel Assisting puts to Mr Parish that “you seem to be taking up issues that (Abbott) raises with respect to the Tyrrell investigation and in a sense, doing his legwork on finding things out” in the months since he learned Abbott was a POI in the case. He agreed.
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Mr Parish is asked what Abbott told him of his movements on the day William disappeared. He told the court Abbott told him “he started the morning off at the shop.. in Wauchope.. then he met up with his daughter and they went to the Uniting Church”.
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Mr Parish told the court he and his wife ensured children in the parish weren’t at risk, saying they made sure the children were “never alone with anyone in a particular spot where they can’t be seen”.
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Mr Parish is asked if he informed Abbott’s neighbours nextdoor to where he moved into the caravan, Peter and Jodie Huntley, that their new neighbour had been charged with child sex offences, given they had young children. He told the court he didn’t.
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Mr Parish is asked if he would report something Abbott told him in confidence. He told the court if it was a criminal offence, “I’d have to stop the conversations and say this is reportable”. He then clarified “but we haven’t had those conversations”.
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The inquest has adjourned for the day.
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