Australia's youngest convicted murderer could walk free from prison within days despite breaching a court order by talking to a mother dressing her young child at a beach.
The 37-year-old man, who cannot be legally named or identified, was sentenced in August 2002 to spend 20 years behind bars for the murder of three-year-old Courtney Morley-Clarke.
He was 13 years and 10 months old at the time of the killing.
The then-teenager abducted the toddler from her bedroom on the NSW Central Coast early one morning while her family slept, later stabbing her and leaving her body in long grass a few hundred metres from her home.
Released in September 2023 under an extended supervision order, the man was barred from associating with anyone under 18 years old in a public place.
One month later, he breached these orders by speaking with a mother dressing her young son near the community showers at Bulli Beach, near Wollongong.
He asked whether the boy was speaking yet and if he had been vaccinated against chickenpox after seeing mosquito bites on the child's body.
“Is dad around?” he asked.
“Yeah, he is,” the woman replied.
“Oh, that’s good I guess," the murderer said before walking off.
The 37-year-old was arrested that day and placed behind bars again before being found guilty of breaching the order in October.
He was acquitted of two further charges relating to alleged breaches at Bulli Beach.
The court found there was insufficient evidence to show he had approached a mother bathing with a naked toddler and that he had only spoken with a third woman because he wanted to pat her dog.
On Monday, he was sentenced at Wollongong District Court to a maximum prison sentence of one year and six months with a non-parole period of one year and one month for the single breach.
Judge William Fitzsimmons found jail was the only appropriate sentence given the man's prior refusal to comply with orders imposed for the community's safety.
The breach was at the low end of objective seriousness, the judge said, because the interaction was brief and the man spoke with the mother but not her child.
But Judge Fitzsimmons called into question the behaviour of the "ill-equipped" community corrections officer who allowed the offence to occur despite being required to maintain line of sight with the convicted killer at all times.
In determining the sentence, the judge took into account the man's deprived childhood, which began before he was born with his mother using heroin while pregnant.
Removed from his parents and put into state care, the convicted murderer was eventually diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder which led to increased impulsivity, difficulties with anger control and anti-social behaviour.
His sentence was backdated to his date of arrest in October 2023, meaning his non-parole period ended on November 23.
But the NSW government is attempting to secure further orders for the man's continued detention in an urgent hearing scheduled in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
While the 37-year-old's lawyers are arguing for his release back into the community, he will remain behind bars until a decision is made in that case.
The man was acquitted earlier in December on two unrelated charges of stalking and intimidating a law enforcement officer and their partner.
