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Cleo Smith, a four-year-old Australian girl, was abducted on 16 October 2021 from a campsite in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia (WA). She was found alive and well on 3 November, after police raided the home of Terence Darrell Kelly in the nearby town of Carnarvon.
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May 15, 2023 · The mother of Cleo Smith says her family remains angry and heartbroken after the sentencing of their five-year-old daughter's kidnapper. Key points: Ellie Smith says what happened to her daughter ...
- Distress to Family 'Immeasurable': Chief Judge
- Kelly Lived in A 'Fantasy World'
- Background of Deprivation
- From Fantasy to 'Harsh New Reality'
- Kelly Befriended Cleo's Mother on Facebook
- Closing A Chapter on 'Evil' Incident
WA District Court Chief Judge Julie Wager described Kelly's actions as being "at the highest level of seriousness". She said Cleo's life, and that of her family, had been "permanently impacted", something she said would never go away. "This isn't a case of luring a child away, that would be serious enough, but the taking of a little four-year-old g...
She also outlined that Kelly had been exposed to severe and complex trauma as a child and had suffered a neurological impairment. The court heard Kelly had created what the chief judge described as an "idealised fantasy world" which protected him from the "depressing" real world. His fantasy world included his like of Bratz dolls, and that he had a...
Kelly's deprived and traumatic upbringing was a major factor in the sentence handed down. "I also fully accept your background of deprivation," Judge Wager said. "No child in Western Australia should have suffered the neurodevelopmental difficulties the trauma, the grief and the neglect that you suffered as a child and as a young person. "Sadly, in...
The court heard Kelly was isolated in prison because of the nature of his crime, something medical reports suggested had made him fearful and feeling hopeless about his future, because he had "gone from the euphoria of fulfilling his idealised fantasy of having a little girl who he can dress up, play with and be with, to a new harsh reality." Judge...
WA Director of Public Prosecutions, Robert Owen, told the court Kelly took Cleo from the family tent sometime between 2.40am and 4.40am in "relative silence". After picking Cleo up, he took her to his car and drove her to his house in Carnarvon where he lived alone. The court heard that after Kelly put Cleo into his car, he was paranoid and took a ...
Speaking after the sentencing, WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch labelled the crime "heinous" and a parent's worst nightmare. "I would expect the community would never think that 13-and-a-half years is enough," he said. "But Judge Wager had to weigh up many things and there were many mitigating circumstances. "I'm a police commissioner and I respec...
- Joanna Menagh
Nov 5, 2021 · Cleo Smith, a four-year-old girl allegedly abducted from her family’s tent at a coastal campsite in Western Australia, has been found alive and well after 18 days of intense search efforts.
- Joe Sommerlad
- 34 sec
Apr 5, 2023 · The sentencing of Cleo Smith's kidnapper marks the closure of an important chapter in a case that captured the world's attention for 18 tense days.
A man has been jailed for 13 years and six months for abducting a four-year-old girl from a remote Western Australia (WA) campsite. Terence Kelly, 37, pleaded guilty last year to taking Cleo...
Nov 4, 2021 · Cleo disappeared from her family's tent at a campsite on 16 October, triggering a massive search. A 36-year-old man will be charged in connection with her disappearance.
