EXCLUSIVE

Australia’s youngest-ever murderer who killed the little girl next door is set to be secretly released from jail next month, after his last taste of freedom ended in sinister circumstances within days.

The child killer is now aged 37 but can only be known as SLD for legal reasons after he murdered toddler Courtney Morley-Clarke on the NSW Central Coast in 2001.

The then-teenager has been branded a sexual psychopath and the shocking attack was compared to the murder of Jamie Bulger by two 10-year-olds in the UK in 1993.

His identity is shrouded in mystery but after he was last set free on parole in September 2023, he was swiftly thrown back behind bars after just a few weeks.

Police swooped when they were tipped off he was approaching women with young children at Bulli Beach in Wollongong, NSW claiming he wanted a date.

He was also found to be accessing pornography online and psychologists warned he had become obsessed with losing his virginity after growing up in jail.

The killer is now set to face another parole hearing on March 11, but his location and identity will remain a court-ordered secret throughout his life, even if he is released.

Courtney Morley-Clarke was just three-years-old when she was murdered by her 13-year-old neighbour in 2001

Just like James Bulger's killers Jon Venables (left) and Robert Thompson, SLD was given a new identity and his anonymity protected

Just like James Bulger’s killers Jon Venables (left) and Robert Thompson, SLD was given a new identity and his anonymity protected 

At the time of his sentencing, Judge James Wood compared little Courtney’s murder to the killing of two-year-old Jamie Bulger by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables.  

Bulger was tortured and murdered when the 10-year-olds abducted him outside a shop, but like SLD, they were given anonymity because of their young age at the time.

And just like SLD, Venables also accessed porn following his release on parole in 2001 and was thrown back in jail.

Venables was then put back in prison again in 2010 when he was caught with indecent images of a child.

SLD had been slated for possible parole in December 2024 but his release was delayed after Justice Mark Ierace ordered two urgent psychiatric examinations.

Their findings will be presented to the parole board hearing in March after the expiry of his interim detention order.

SLD had been adopted at the age of four by a family in Point Clare on the Central Coast, but his murder trial heard he remained ‘disturbed’ despite his new home.

At age 13 years and 10 months, he snatched Courtney from her bed in the middle of the night and stabbed her through the heart before leaving her body in long grass just 300m from her home.

James Bulger's murder made headlines around the world after his killers were revealed to be young children who had abducted him from a shopping centre

James Bulger’s murder made headlines around the world after his killers were revealed to be young children who had abducted him from a shopping centre

Bulger was tortured and murdered when the 10-year-olds abducted him outside a shop (pictured) in Bootle on Merseyside in the UK in 1993

Bulger was tortured and murdered when the 10-year-olds abducted him outside a shop (pictured) in Bootle on Merseyside in the UK in 1993

He was caught after it was noticed that he had gone missing from his own home on the morning the three-year-old vanished.  

He initially lied about the crime, leading the police search on a wild goose chase before later admitting he killed her.

Psychiatric assessments of the teen determined he’d never become a functioning social adult.

He was sentenced in August 2002 to 20 years behind bars but was first released in September 2023.

Just weeks later, he was re-arrested for breaching the terms of his release when he spoke to three women with children.

On October 25, SLD went to Bulli Beach near Wollongong with a supervisor and was spotted by an off-duty prison officer who noticed his electronic monitoring anklet.

The officer witnessed SLD approach a woman with a young girl, and then approach another mother washing an infant at the beach showers.

Both women picked up their children and walked away from SLD.

He then entered the Bulli Beach Café and struck up a conversation with a woman feeding an infant.

After allegedly saying to the woman: ‘I just got out of jail. Do you come here often?’ he then said: ‘I’ve only been here twice.’

Police came and arrested SLD, who told Wollongong Local Court the next day the encounters were ‘incidental’.

Jamie Bulger was lured to a nearby railway track (pictured) where he was tortured and murdered by Venables and Thompson

Jamie Bulger was lured to a nearby railway track (pictured) where he was tortured and murdered by Venables and Thompson

SLD breached his parole by approaching mothers with children at Bulli Beach (pictured) near Wollongong

SLD breached his parole by approaching mothers with children at Bulli Beach (pictured) near Wollongong 

He was found guilty of one count of failing to comply with an extended supervision order, which barred him from having contact with children. 

He had also tried to access the internet, dating sites and encrypted chat apps.

Authorities believe SDL is a high risk of re-offending because of his obsession with finding a girlfriend to start a sexual relationship after being locked up behind bars for more than 20 years

One psychiatrists noted the killer was preoccupied with sex and fixated on losing his virginity immediately upon his release, and said he posed a danger to females.

Following a recent hearing in the NSW Supreme Court, Justice Ierace did not make orders on whether SLD would continue to be held in prison.

He instead extended his interim detention and ordered two psychologist or psychiatrists to conduct the independent examinations.

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