Phone brag got nation’s youngest murderer re-arrested
Australia’s youngest convicted murderer’s boast that police would never find out what was on his phone led to his rearrest for downloading sexually violent images and child abuse material.
The man, known as SLD for legal reasons, spent almost two-thirds of his life in prison after the then 13-year-old kidnapped and fatally stabbed his three-year-old neighbour, Courtney Morley-Clarke, on the NSW Central Coast in 2001.
After his release in 2023, he was subjected to a series of strict conditions imposed by corrections officers tasked with monitoring the man in prison and protecting society.
On March 20, 2025, he told superiors that he had violated these conditions.
“Good luck finding whatever I do on the phone,” he said during a supervised visit to an Optus store.
About a week later, she boasted twice about being able to delete her internet activity, using the dark web, and wanting to access dating sites to lose her virginity.
These details come from court documents seen by AAP on Tuesday after the now 39-year-old pleaded guilty to five charges of breaching supervision orders and two charges relating to child abuse material.
As long as he was free in the community, he was prohibited from using social networking services or dating sites without prior approval.
He was also only allowed to view sexually explicit material on a single pornographic website, but was told not to watch anything that involved sexual violence or cruelty towards women or children.
NSW Police found he had breached these conditions when his phone was later examined.
He was later arrested in April 2025.
Police examining his phone found a photo of a five-year-old girl naked from the waist down.
They also found 43 images downloaded to the woman’s device of people appearing tied up, scared or in pain, and in sexually violent situations with their hands over their mouths.
One photo was captioned as “raped virgin,” according to court documents.
The killer also searched for sexually violent material online, including watching a video purporting to be of a drugged woman being raped in a hotel.
He clearly attempted to search for child abuse material on websites by searching for terms such as “real child rape.”
He also breached the terms of his probation by using a false name to create a Facebook profile and chat with the public.
The 39-year-old will be sentenced in Campbelltown District Court in June.
He was also convicted of breaching his conditions when he approached a mother and her partially naked child on a beach in Wollongong in October 2023.
He was given an 18-month prison sentence and was released in March 2025, weeks before his last arrest.
The killer sought to overturn his conviction in the matter in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, with a ruling due on Wednesday.
He recently suggested a reason for killing Courtney: revenge for his brother’s alleged bullying.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Resolution Support Service 1800 211 028
Lifeline 13 11 14
Child Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
