Terence Darrell Kelly, 37, the man who
Terence Kelly, 37, who pleaded guilty, abducted a sleeping Cleo Smith from a remote campsite in the early hours of Oct. 16, 2021, and then drove her about 50 miles to his house, where he kept her locked in a bedroom, the court transcript showed.
The story behind the abduction that gripped the world. When Terence Darrell Kelly went to the remote Western Australian Blowholes campsite in the middle of the night, he was looking to steal a handbag. But he ended up taking a child. The crime was as audacious as it was opportunistic.
Terence Darrell Kelly - the man who admitted to kidnapping then four-year-old Cleo Smith and holding her captive for 18 days - told police "she was a bit of a fighter". The 37-year-old Carnarvon man was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison.
Cleo Smith's kidnapper Terence Kelly jailed for 13 years and six months.
In an interview after Cleo's disappearance, Ellie said the girl had gone to bed in the family's tent at around 8 p.m., woke up early the next morning at 1:30 a.m. asking for water, and had returned to sleep after being given water.
The sleeping bag Cleo Smith was dreaming in before she was allegedly abducted from her family's tent almost one month ago has still not been found. Close sources to the investigation have confirmed to The West Australian that despite a massive search for the red and grey sleeping bag, it is still missing.
Judge Wager acknowledged in sentencing that kidnapping Cleo formed part of Kelly's “fantasy of having a little girl he could dress up and play with.”
Terence Kelly was handed the lengthy sentence on Wednesday after admitting abducting Cleo, who was just four years old at the time, and holding her captive for 18 days. Cleo's mum, Ellie Smith, says “the anger always will be there” despite Kelly, 37, being locked up.
Kelly also told police that he had tried to tie up Cleo's hands, feet and mouth using sticky tape and tried to tie her to a chair, but both failed because “she was a bit of a fighter”. The court heard on Wednesday that Kelly burned the onesie, underwear and sleeping bag that she was taken in.
“We are all absolutely overjoyed at the good news this morning and so happy that Cleo has been reunited with her mum and dad,” the typed statement, handed to the West Australian, read.
The anguished parents of Cleo Smith are having to contend with callous abuse on Facebook from online trolls, even though police say they are not suspects in her disappearance.
Parents Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon have reportedly accepted a $2 million cheque from the Nine Network to tell their story of the events that unfolded over the course of 18 harrowing days and the efforts to find the four-year-old.
After his arrest, Kelly told police officers that Cleo had cried when left alone and he had "roughed her up a few times", including smacking her for being bossy and asking for chocolate, but he insisted that he didn't want to severely hurt her.
Terence Kelly, 37, pleaded guilty last year to taking Cleo Smith from her family's tent in October 2021. After a huge police search, Cleo was found alive 18 days later at Kelly's house, minutes from her own home. Kelly was arrested and later admitted child stealing in a case which attracted global attention.
The Sertori Family is Cleo's family. They are not very close but do love each other. In the start in the second season Don and Bev divorced with the girls broken up over it. In the third season Don gets remarried to Sam.
Deborah Coulls as Bev (series 1), Cleo and Kim's mother and Don's wife and then later ex-wife. They divorced prior to the events of series 2.
Cleo's parents announce that they are getting a divorce. As her life at home is falling apart, so is her life at school.
Cleo Smith was missing for eighteen days and was found by police in Kelly's Carnarvon home. Kelly, who's now aged 37, confessed to the crime. In the District Court in Perth he was sentenced to 13 years and six months in jail. He must serve at least 11 years and six months before he'll be eligible for release on parole.
In April he was sentenced to 13 years and six months in jail, and was told he would have to spend at least 11 years and six months in prison before he is eligible for parole.
There are various penalties for kidnapping in Australia and NSW. For most kidnapping offences, the maximum penalty is around 14-15 years. However, the maximum penalty increases to 20 years in prison where you were in the company of another person or persons, or you caused actual bodily harm to the complainant.
Nine's exclusive tell-all with the family of Cleo Smith was conducted over video call – a fact that's raised eyebrows with some considering the network reportedly paid $2 million for the interview.
A single ping to a phone tower, that was only built in 2018, led detectives to him 18 days after the four-year-old was snatched from the family tent at the Quobba Blowholes campsite on Western Australia's midwest coast, in October 2021.
Daniel Staines lives in Halls Head with his parents. A woman at the home handed a typed statement to The West Australian in which the Staines family sent Cleo, her mother Ellie Smith and stepfather Jake Gliddon their “best wishes”.
Cleo Smith was kidnapped for 18 days during 2021. During the ordeal, doll collector Kelly kept Cleo locked in a room in his Carnavon house, the door to which had been modified so it could only be locked from the hallway side.