EXCLUSIVE
Australia’s youngest-ever murderer, who killed a three-year-old girl, plans to lose his virginity in the New Year – but his future partners will know nothing about his horrific past.
SLD, a sexual psychopath who murdered little Courtney Morley-Clarke in January 2001 on the New South Wales Central Coast, enjoys lifelong anonymity which prevents the public from linking him to his horrific crime.
Authorities believe he is at high risk of reoffending due to his obsession with finding a girlfriend and initiating a sexual relationship after being locked up behind bars for more than 20 years.
He was due to be released last week before Judge Mark Ierace delayed his possible release for 28 days and ordered two separate psychiatric examinations.
Despite this, you could still go out in January and look for love.
Briefly paroled in September 2023, the child killer was returned behind bars in October after approaching women with young children at Bulli Beach in Wollongong, New South Wales.
He also attempted to access the Internet, dating sites, and encrypted chat apps.
SLD, now 37, was adopted by a family in Point Clare when he was four, but despite his new home, the boy remained “disturbed”.
At the age of 13 years and 10 months, he pulled Courtney out of her bed in the middle of the night and stabbed her in the heart before leaving her body in the tall grass.
He was captured after he was discovered missing from his own home on the morning the three-year-old was taken.
Courtney Morley-Clarke was three years old when her 13-year-old neighbor murdered her
SLD breached his probation by approaching mothers with children at Bulli Beach in Wollongong
He initially lied about the crime, leading the police search into a wild goose chase before proudly admitting he killed her.
Psychiatric evaluations of the adolescent determined that he would never become a functioning social adult.
He was sentenced in August 2002 to 20 years behind bars, but was released in September 2023.
Just weeks after being released from prison, he was arrested again for violating the terms of his release when he spoke to three women with children.
On October 25, SLD went to Bulli Beach with a supervisor and was discovered by an off-duty prison officer who noticed his electronic monitoring anklet.
The officer saw SLD approach a woman with a child and then approach another mother washing a baby in the beach showers.
Both women picked up their children and left SLD.
SLD tried to access the Internet and dating sites (file image)
He then entered the Bulli Beach Café and struck up a conversation with a woman who was feeding a baby.
After allegedly telling the woman: ‘I just got out of jail.’ Do you come here often? Then he said, “I’ve only been here twice.”
Police came and arrested SLD, who the next day told Wollongong Local Court the encounters were “incidental”.
He was found guilty of one count of failing to comply with an extended supervision order, which prohibited him from having contact with children.
Psychiatrists are concerned about the safety of women around SLD after one noted the killer was preoccupied with sex and obsessed with losing his virginity immediately upon his release.
Following a recent hearing in the New South Wales Supreme Court, Judge Ierace made no orders on whether SLD would remain in prison.
Instead, he ordered that the provisional detention order be extended and ordered two psychologists or psychiatrists to conduct independent examinations.
The matter will return in the new year.