Robert Terry Smith has child protection registration sought against him by police

The man who helped cover up the murder of Sydney girl Kiesha Weippeart still only refers to her as “the body”, court documents have revealed as police seek protective orders against him.

Police want to have murdered child Kiesha Weippeart’s stepfather placed on a child protection register after his release on parole for her manslaughter. Picture: Supplied

The man who covered up the gut-wrenching murder of a “vulnerable, defenceless” little girl he regarded as his stepdaughter still only refers to her as “the body”, court documents have revealed as police seek to place him on the child protection register.

The tragedy of western Sydney child Kiesha Weippeart’s death aged just six broke the nation’s hearts in 2010, with her mother Kristi Abrahams ultimately jailed for her murder.

For eight months, Abrahams and her partner Robert Terry Smith had played the stricken, bereft parents whose child had gone missing from their Seven Hills home.

The supposedly doting parents’ concocted narrative about a beloved child missing fell to pieces when they led an undercover police officer directly to the child’s bushland grave.

There, it was confirmed how Abrahams and Smith had gone to extreme lengths to dispose of her remains and conceal the vicious crime after Kiesha sustained a fatal head injury at Abrahams’ hands.

Abrahams is still serving a minimum 16-year sentence for Kiesha’s murder, but Smith was released on parole in April after serving 12 years of his 16-year sentence for manslaughter.

Kiesha Weippeart.

Police are now seeking to have Smith placed on the Child Protection Offenders Register due to the gravity of his crime and a legislation change since his sentence.

Since 2014, offenders who have committed manslaughter against children under 10 except in matters involving vehicle crashes and wounding or grievous bodily harm with intent have been automatically registrable on the Child Protection Offenders Register.

As Smith was sentenced for the manslaughter in 2013 before this change occurred, he was not automatically eligible for the register.

The NSW Police Force’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad has now applied to the court to have Smith placed on the register.

Smith and Abrahams before they were charged.

Smith getting into a police van at King Street Court.

Documents tendered to Parramatta Local Court to support the application reveal a psychological report described Smith as “self-focused”.

“He refuses to talk about (Kiesha), choosing to refer to her as ‘the body’,” the report tendered to the court states.

“When prompted, he said he felt sad he could not protect her.”

Documents note Smith did not show “indications of emotional distress when discussing the offence”, and described it in a “rather detached and disassociated manner”.

The report also revealed Smith had continued to communicate with Abrahams in letters until his mother had intervened.

Smith at his halfway house after his release on parole in April 2023. Picture: John Grainger

Material tendered to the court in support of the application also referred to the sentencing judge’s conclusion Smith took “no preventive action” in relation to Abrahams’ sustained physical abuse of Kiesha before her death.

“He was complicit in the long term abuse of the deceased, who he considered a daughter and took no action to remove himself from the situation or protect the deceased or remove her from harm,” the police documents state.

“A person who allows this to occur on one so vulnerable poses a risk to the physical safety of all children – the protection of any children Smith may come into contact with must be of paramount importance.”

Kiesha Weippeart.

Police concluded the gravity of Smith’s crime warranted him being placed on the register so any child he came into contact with was known to police who could “take measures to ensure children are not at risk of harm”.

The matter will return to court on December 20.