Date set for sentencing of Cleo Smith kidnapper Terence Kelly
The man who kidnapped Cleo Smith from her West Australian campsite will face court later this year when his sentence will be decided.
The man who kidnapped Cleo Smith from a West Australian campsite and held her for two weeks will learn his fate at the end of this year.
Terence Darrell Kelly, 37, has pleaded guilty to the charge of forcibly taking a child under 16.
His lawyers appeared at WA District Court on Friday to confirm the case was ready for sentencing.
Kelly will face a two-day hearing on December 13 and 14, during which the parties will argue their cases for a judge to determine his sentence.
Cleo disappeared from her tent at the Quobba Blowholes campsite in Western Australia on October 16, 2021, sparking a major search effort that gained international attention.
She was eventually discovered by police on November 3 at a home in Carnarvon, more than 80km from where she was taken.
Images of Cleo showed her smiling and apparently remarkably unharmed as she recovered in hospital.
Kelly was arrested the same day Cleo was found and has remained behind bars at Perth’s maximum security Casuarina Prison since.
Investigators pulled items, including dolls and children’s markers, from the home where Cleo was held, prompting speculation by her parents over his reasons for taking her.
“That’s what he wanted, he wanted a little doll,” Cleo’s mum Ellie told Channel 9.
Ms Smith also revealed she realised soon after reuniting with Cleo that the girl’s hair had been cut.
“We had seen that her hair was cut and her hair was dyed. I guess we kind of saw the little things other people didn’t,” she said.
“I was just angry that someone tried changing her to kind of fit what they wanted.”
Cleo’s parents speculated that a pink bike left outside the tent drew Kelly to her.
“Cleo had a bike at the front which indicated we had a child in that tent and that was all he needed to know,” Ms Smith said.
“How are we meant to know putting a little girl’s bike out the front of our tent indicated for someone to get her?”