Man who tried to drown toddler in bathtub after repeatedly abusing the girl and her mother found dead in jail
A tradesman who was accused of trying to drown a toddler in a bathtub was found dead in his jail cell, less than a month after he was arrested, police have confirmed. Alex Clements, 24, was arrested at a Campbelltown home in Sydney's south-west on July 13 by detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad after he allegedly attempted to kill a two-year-old girl, who was not his daughter, according to the Daily Mail.
The owner of the home revealed he had moved in just a week before and had expressed shock at his arrest. "Other than what I saw on face value I couldn't really tell you much about him, he was here for just seven or eight days," he said. "I was here (last night) but I didn't ask questions. I felt like they already had a rapport, like he and the police knew each other."
Clements was transported to Campbelltown Police Station and charged with attempted drowning with intent to murder. Two apprehended violence orders were taken out against him after he was also accused of abusing the child on at least two occasions in April and May. He was subsequently incarcerated at the Parklea Correctional Facility, where he was found dead in his cell on August 12. A Corrective Services New South Wales spokeswoman confirmed his death and said that he was found unresponsive at 3.10 pm. "He received immediate treatment by medical staff but passed away at approximately 3.24 pm," the spokeswoman said. "Corrective Services NSW and NSW Police are investigating. All deaths in custody are subject to a coronial inquest."
NSW police have said that there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death but speculation is still rife considering the nature of the charges that had been levied against him. Clements, who was due to appear at the Campbelltown Court in September, was also accused of abusing the child's mother on numerous occasions as well. According to court documents obtained by the Mail, the woman, who has not been named to protect her identity, was attacked by the 24-year-old seven times. During one of those attacks, he put a hole in the kitchen wall while in another, he destroyed a bedroom in her home.
A former colleague of Clements shared that, before his arrest on attempted murder charges, Clements told him he was looking for work and that he had only gotten out of prison for unrelated domestic violence offenses relatively recently. "He told me he got out of jail last year and I got him some work," the colleague said. "Then I sent him some more numbers to see if he could get some more work. I heard a couple of weeks ago something was not good about the way the girl had been treated, now today we've got this. I tried to help him all I could, but he'd rung me on a couple of occasions saying, 'I'm going back to jail' but he was always blaming other people."
Because the facility where Clements died is privately owned, its operator, MTC - Broadspectrum, is expected to be charged a financial penalty for the "unnatural death of an inmate."