Central Coast child killer SLD ‘very high risk’ to community after allegedly approaching mums, kids at beach

A released prisoner, who can only be identified as SLD by court order, was just 13 when he snatched the sleeping girl on the Central Coast in 2001 before stabbing her in the heart with a steak knife and discarding her lifeless body down an embankment.

A massive search took place for the missing girl in 2001.

A depraved killer who spent more than 20 years behind bars for grabbing a three-year-old from her bed and stabbing her to death allegedly approached multiple mums and their children on a Wollongong beach just weeks after his release from custody, a court has heard.

The man, who can only be identified as SLD by court order, was just 13 in 2001 when he snatched Courtney Morley-Clarke from her Central Coast home, where she was sleeping, before stabbing her in the heart with a steak knife and discarding her lifeless body down an embankment.

In August 2002, Justice James Wood sentenced SLD to 20 years jail and described the horrific killing as a “parent’s worst nightmare”.
He said SLD had “limited empathy and a record of bullying and domination of younger children”.

SLD, now 36, was released from custody in August last year on a five-year extended supervision order (ESO), designed to monitor his every movement and social interaction, including banning him from having any association with children.

Courtney Morley-Clarke, 3, was stabbed to death.

SLR being arrested by police.

However, he was returned to custody in October last year after allegedly breaching a condition of the order that banned him from associating with children.

Documents tendered to the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday during SLD’s unsuccessful bid for bail said police will allege SLD was at Bulli Beach with a support worker one day in October last year when an off-duty community corrections officer spotted him wearing an electronic monitoring anklet.

SLD’s was spotted by an off-duty community corrections officer.

The officer witnessed SLD allegedly approach a woman in a swimsuit with a small girl where they spoke briefly. The woman then picked up the child and walked away.

The court heard SLD then allegedly approached a second woman washing an infant wearing bather bottoms in the shower area, with the two exchanging words before SLD gestured at the girl.

The woman grabbed the child and walked away from SLD.

The final interaction witnessed by the officer, the court heard, involved SLD allegedly approaching a woman feeding a baby at the Bulli Beach Cafe.

Police and SES officers assembling in Point Clare in 2001 to search for then-missing toddler Courtney Morley-Clarke.

“I just got out of jail. Do you come here often?” SLD allegedly said.

“I’ve only been here twice. I just got out of jail.”

The documents state the woman appeared uneasy and turned away while shielding the minor.

The officer confronted SLD about his actions and he allegedly said “I didn’t do anything wrong”.

The command post of the 2001 search for Courtney, outside her home.

“I have watched you approach three separate women with their children and try to speak to them,” the officer said.

“You know you can’t do that. I’m calling the police.”

SLD was subsequently arrested and taken to Wollongong Police Station where he was charged with failing to comply with an extended supervision order (ESO) - namely “associating with children”.

The charge, if proven, carries a maximum sentence of five years behind bars.

Courtney's parents support each other during the search.

Courtney’s body was found dumped in long grass.

Magistrate Darryl Pearce denied SLD’s initial bail application in Wollongong Local Court the day after his arrest and he was remanded in custody.

On Thursday, SLD’s fortunes did not improve in front of Supreme court justice Michael Walton.

The court heard SLD had spent 23 years in jail and had been released from a continuing detention order six weeks prior to the alleged offending.

Under the ESO, SLD was living at a Corrective Services half-way house in south-western Sydney and was being monitored around the clock.

Courtney’s home became a crime scene.

In applying for bail, SLD’s barrister highlighted the “novel condition of direct line of sight supervision” imposed via the five-year ESO, his mental health and what she claimed were weaknesses in the prosecution case.

“The fact that these alleged breaches were detected immediately is indicative of the conditions working,” his barrister said.

Police officers searching for clues in Point Clare.

“The Crown would have difficulty proving that the interactions that are alleged to have occurred amount to an association with children.”

Justice Walton acknowledged SLD had “some vulnerability” in jail, but found it did not outweigh his risk to the community and he had not shown cause why his ongoing detention was not justified.

“[If I was to consider bail] I would find, based on the factors I’ve identified, that there is a very high risk indeed,” he said.

The matter will return to Wollongong Local Court next week.

Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Email [e-mail]