How a man who confessed to killing a toddler was allowed to walk free | 60 Minutes Australia

60 Minutes Australia October 12, 2025
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60 Minutes Australia was first broadcast in February 1979. Founding reporters Ray Martin, George Negus and Ian Leslie quickly established the show as the destination for the finest television journalism. Today, 45 years later, 60 Minutes remains Australia's leading current affairs program. Award winning correspondents Tara Brown, Amelia Adams, Adam Hegarty, Dimity Clancey and Nick McKenzie investigate, analyse and uncover the issues affecting all Australians.

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Working out who abducted and then murdered three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer from a crowded Wollongong beach almost 50 years ago should be easy. Eighteen months after the sickening crime a man claiming to be the killer admitted it. He gave detectives a detailed confession. But surprisingly, that admission didn’t mean it was “case closed”. As Tara Brown reports, cursory police work and an extraordinary legal technicality has meant the confessed murderer has never been prosecuted for the crime, and remains free. For the Grimmer family the insult of knowing that, combined with the loss of their beautiful Cheryl, is as painful today as it ever was. But it hasn’t lessened their incredible resolve to fight for justice. Watch the 2025 update to this story: https://youtu.be/904Y506cgps *Confession (2019)* ► Subscribe: http://9Soci.al/chmP50wA97J ► WATCH Full Episodes on 9NOW: https://9now.app.link/uNP4qBkmN6 FOLLOW 60 Minutes Australia ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/60minutes9 ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@60minutes9 ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/60Minutes9 ABOUT 60 Minutes Australia 60 Minutes Australia have been telling the world’s greatest stories for over 40 years. Reporters Tara Brown, Amelia Adams, Adam Hegarty, Dimity Clancey and Nick McKenzie look past the headlines to show the bigger picture. Watch the latest from 60 Minutes Australia every Sunday on Channel 9 and 9Now. #60Mins

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