A man has been committed to stand trial over the abduction and murder of three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer in 1970, but has yet to enter a plea.
The toddler vanished from a public toilet block at Fairy Meadow Beach, north of Wollongong, in January 1970.
A 64-year-old man was charged with murder last year and appeared via audio-video link during a hearing in Wollongong Local Court on Friday.
Police allege the man, who cannot be named because he was a minor at the time, confessed to the girl's murder in April 1971, but they did not believe him.
The court heard he was in a Sydney boys' remand centre at the time of the police interview.
In documents tendered to the court, the toddler's mother Carole Grimmer told police at the time of her daughter's disappearance that "Cheryl had a friendly disposition and was accustomed to talking to strange people".
Retired detective Phillip Findlay, who was one of two police who remained on the case a year after Cheryl disappeared, was questioned in court about the police interview with the accused.
Under cross-examination, he confirmed police made no attempt to contact the boy's parents or guardians, and did not tell him he was free to leave without participating in the interview.
The court heard the accused had tried to kill himself twice, and that the second occasion was two days prior to his alleged confession.
Mr Findlay told the court he learned the boy had been in a psychiatric ward in Brisbane and had sought emergency accommodation in 1970.
The man's lawyer queried the accuracy of records of the police interview, before waiving his right to a committal hearing.
The man will stand trial in the NSW Supreme Court in September.
