A group of people allegedly involved in a child-stealing network, which is accused of helping women abduct children in north Queensland and hide them interstate, has been committed to stand trial.
Seven people have been charged in relation to the alleged syndicate, including GP William Pridgeon, 67, and Patrick O'Dea, 65, who are accused of several offences each, including child stealing and conspiring to defeat justice.
Dr Pridgeon was arrested in 2018 and extradited to Queensland from New South Wales after being accused of financing the syndicate, which allegedly helped women who claimed the children were being sexually abused by their fathers.
Mr O'Dea was also arrested in 2018, and is accused of stalking one of the fathers of the children he is accused of helping to abduct.
In the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Tuesday morning, when being committed on eight charges, Mr O'Dea chose to enter a plea of "not guilty".
The court also heard three members of the group, including Dr Pridgeon, made a "no case to answer" submission in a bid to have their charges thrown out.
All seven will face trial in the Brisbane District Court at a later date.
'Central' in the network
At a committal hearing in Brisbane last September, prosecutors alleged the NSW men were the "central persons involved" in the network.
The court heard the pair, along with five other co-accused, allegedly helped a mother abduct her daughters from Townsville in 2014.
It also heard the group assisted another woman with taking her grandson, who also lived in Townsville, and hiding him in New South Wales in 2018.
The children were all subject to Family Court orders at the time.
The prosecution also alleged Mr O'Dea and Dr Pridgeon set up social media accounts and published information that breached the Family Law Act.
