Man charged over Cleo abduction, as girl emerges for first time since rescue

A man has been charged over the abduction of Cleo Smith in Western Australia, making several outbursts when he appeared in court.

Cleo Smith and her mum Ellie Smith are seen leaving a house where she spent her first night after being rescued in Carnarvon. Picture: AAP

A man has been charged over the abduction of Cleo Smith in Western Australia.

The Western Australia Police Force has charged Carnarvon man Terry Darrell Kelly, 36, with the abduction of the four-year-old.

Mr Kelly appeared briefly in the dock of the Carnarvon courthouse shortly after 4.15pm local time (7pm AEDT).

Western Australian police announced that the 36-year-old Carnarvon man had been charged with various offences, including one count of forcibly take a child under 16.

“The man was taken into custody shortly before officers from Operation Rodia rescued the

missing girl from a locked house in Carnarvon in the early hours of Wednesday, 3 November,” WA police said in a statement.

“Cleo had been missing for 18 days after disappearing from her family’s tent at the Blowholes

campsite on 16 October. She is now safely back with her family.”

Mr Kelly uttered several outbursts during the special late-afternoon hearing, including: “I’m coming for you!”

Barefoot and wearing a back t-shirt, he appeared to be pointing to where media was sitting in the public gallery.

He also asked the judge: “What the f*ck are the media doing here?”

The magistrate replied: “It’s an open court”.

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Cleo emerges for first time since rescue

Cleo Smith has been spotted with her mother leaving the home where the family have been staying since her rescue, after West Australian police released audio of the moment detectives rescued the four-year-old and she uttered the now famous words: “My name is Cleo.”

Cleo was allegedly taken from the family tent while camping at Quobba Blowholes on October 16 and was rescued just before 1am on Wednesday when detectives stormed into a Carnarvon house.

In an audio clip released by the WA Police Force, Cleo is asked three times before she reveals her name.

"My name is Cleo." pic.twitter.com/xiy59x4kjP

— WA Police Force (@WA_Police) November 4, 2021

All smiles as McGowan leads Cleo wellwishers

Earlier, Cleo’s stepfather greeted West Australian Premier Mark McGowan and Inspector Rod Wilde at the Carnarvon home where the family has been staying since the four-year-old was rescued in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

WA Premier Mark McGowan visits the residence where Cleo Smith and parents are staying. Stepfather Jake Gliddon greets the premier. Picture: Colin Murty

A smiling Jake Gliddon welcomed Mr McGowan and Mr Papalia inside at 9.45am local time (12.45pm AEDT), shortly after the McGowan government jet touched down in the fruit-growing town 960km north of Perth.

WA Premier Mark McGowan brought presents for Cleo. Picture: Colin Murty

Mr McGowan was among the first to receive news that Cleo had been found alive during a raid on a locked house in her hometown of Carnarvon at 12.46am Wednesday. The man police believe abducted her on October 16 was found a short distance away around the same time. Terry Kelly, 36, is in custody at the Carnarvon police complex but has not yet been charged. Police have twice taken him to hospital for self harm. Police sources say CCTV from

police cells will show Mr Kelly banged his own head repeatedly on a wall and was not attacked by another prisoner as has been reported by some other media.

While several neighbours have provided accounts of what they saw leading up to the arrest of the man, WA Police have said certain accounts, including one about a man buying nappies, were not brought to authorities prior to the arrest.

“Yeah, look, certainly we will speak to them but none of that information came to police,” Rod Wilde, the inspector in charge of the investigation, told reporters on Wednesday.

Asked about the tip off police received which led to Cleo’s rescue, Mr Blanch said while he wouldn’t rule out paying out the $1 million reward, it wasn’t likely.

“It was literally a needle in a data haystack and we got to a point where we could sort of see the picture that we believed fit the circumstances and it did lead to that house, it led to the person in that house and we went there,” he said.

“Police solve crimes through what I say is data overlays so we put the phone data over number plate recognition data, CCTV, witness accounts, forensics and when you layer them on top of each other you solve crimes and that is merely what we have done here.”