Australia’s youngest convicted murderer admits to possessing child abuse material after release from jail

WARNING: Distressing content Australia’s youngest convicted murderer has admitted to possessing child abuse material and breaching supervision orders less than a month after he was released from prison. The man, who can only be known as SLD, murdered three-year-old Courtney Morley-Clarke when he was just 13 in January 2001. He stabbed the young girl through the heart after he pulled her from her bed on the NSW Central Coast, leaving her body in long grass nearby and leading police on a wild-goose chase as they frantically searched for Courtney. The man spent more than 20 years in jail for Courtney’s murder but was arrested just a month after his release in 2023 for breaching the terms of his release that prohibited him from having contact with children. The man was sentenced to a further year and a half in prison but was again arrested less than a month after he was released in 2025 for breaching a supervision order and possessing child abuse material. The man sat with his hands clasped under his chin as he dialled into Campbelltown Local Court on Wednesday from Long Bay jail. Pleas of guilty were entered on his behalf to seven charges. They include five counts of failing to comply with extended/interim supervision order, one count of possessing child abuse material, and one count of using a carriage service etc to access child abuse material. Six other charges were withdrawn. The man answered “yes” when magistrate Peter Thompson asked if he understood the pleas entered on his behalf. He will appear before the Campbelltown District Court in person on March 19 when a sentence date will be set. Killer led police on goose chase The man pulled Courtney from her bed in the middle of the night in 2001 and stabbed her through the heart before he left her body in long grass nearby. He was caught after it was noticed that he’d gone missing from his own home the morning the girl was taken. He initially lied that he had gone for a walk and was playing with his pet duck in the middle of the night before returning about 2.45am. He led police, who were frantically searching for Courtney, on a wild-goose chase before admitting that he killed her. He took them to a stretch of the street where officers found a pool of blood and a steak knife. The three-year-old’s body was discovered nearby. news.com.au mental health helplines