Predator Faces Life Sentence for Raping Four-Year-Old Girl
A convicted sex predator now confronting a potential life sentence for the rape of a four-year-old girl had previously groomed another underage victim using Skype and other online platforms. Zane Clark, 24, who appeared to be an ordinary Maroubra teenager enjoying diving and fishing with his father, was secretly engaging in predatory behaviour that has now led to severe legal consequences.
Disturbing History of Online Grooming
In 2020, Clark initiated contact with a 13-year-old girl just after midnight on March 25, using his real name on Skype. He proceeded to ask increasingly inappropriate questions, pressured her to undress during video calls, and professed false love while manipulating her into sexual activity. When the girl resisted, Clark turned cold and dismissive, employing emotional pressure and advising her to conceal their communications. He even suggested she claim her phone had been hacked if any compromising material was discovered, acknowledging he would face imprisonment if caught.
The girl's aunt eventually reported these interactions to the police, prompting a formal investigation. Detectives interviewed the victim in April 2021, and Clark was arrested eleven days later at Sydney Airport, where his iPhones were seized. A subsequent search of his Maroubra flat uncovered two additional mobile phones containing multiple child abuse videos and images.
Cache of Child Abuse Material Uncovered
Police discovered a disturbing collection of child abuse material across three mobile phones that had been purchased for Clark by his father. Online exchanges revealed Clark requesting images of children, specifically demanding material involving victims aged ten or younger. He was charged with possessing and controlling child abuse material, using a carriage service to procure a person under 16, and two counts of using a carriage service for child abuse material. Clark received a three-year prison term but was released in September 2022 to serve the remainder under a recognisance order requiring good behaviour, supervision, and rehabilitation programs.
Severe Charges for Earlier Assault
Despite avoiding a lengthy initial jail term, Clark now faces life imprisonment for offences committed more than six years ago. He was arrested in August 2024 at Silverwater Correctional Complex for three serious crimes at the four-year-old girl's family home in Sydney's south. Clark pleaded guilty last September to sexual intercourse with a child under ten in a domestic violence-related context, using a child under 14 to produce child abuse material, and an alternative charge of intentionally sexually touching a child under ten.
The first offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Clark remains held at Silverwater and is scheduled for sentencing in March. District Court Judge Gina O'Rourke, who presided over his earlier sentencing, will oversee the proceedings for the offences against the four-year-old victim, highlighting the gravity of his predatory actions and the ongoing legal pursuit of justice for the young survivors.
