WA Police to interview Cleo Smith about her abduction

Specialist child interviewers will today begin talking to four-year old Cleo Smith after she was abducted and forced to live with a man against her will.

Specialist child interviewers will today begin talking to four-year old Cleo Smith about what happened to her after she was snatched from her parent’s tent in a remote West Australian campsite nearly three weeks ago.

WA Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde has revealed the interviewers who are trained in dealing with vulnerable victims have been flown to Carnarvon from Perth and will begin to ask questions if Cleo is feeling up to it.

“Her welfare is paramount,” said Det Sup Wilde.

“We take a very careful approach when we speak to children at such a young age and (who have) been through such a traumatic event,”

“Depending on how she is, we intend to start that today.”

Det Sup Wilde confirmed Cleo was physically unharmed and that her kidnap was not premeditated but was a “spontaneous event”.

The moment police rescue Cleo Smith from a Carnarvon home, 18 days after they say she was taken from her family's tent. Picture: WA Police

Speaking on Perth radio Thursday, Det Sup Wilde quashed rumours that the 36-year-old man in custody was bashed by another prisoner.

“That is not true. The man in custody self-harmed. Obviously in modern police stations there are CCTV cameras in every cell.

He said the man had been taken to hospital for a second time with injuries.

“I would not say (the injuries) are life threatening. I imagine he may be fit to be interviewed later this afternoon.

“When he is declared fit to interview that is what we will do.”

The man arrested over the 18-day disappearance of Cleo has been taken to hospital for a second time as WA police revealed the four-year-old and her family spent the night cuddling together in the same room.

The house where Cleo was found. Picture: Colin Murty

WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch told Sydney radio station 2GB that the 36 year-old, who was arrested near the Carnarvon home where Cleo was found, was out of police holding cells and back in hospital with minor injuries.

“There’s no serious injuries, but we’ve had to take him off to hospital again this morning,” Mr Blanch said.

“It is important that police ... make sure if we’re going to interview anyone they must be of sound mind, they must be healthy, they have had sufficient rest.”

He added: “If any answers in a police interview are going to stand up in court, we must satisfy those things”.

The alleged offender was briefly taken to hospital on Wednesday afternoon for a self-inflicted injury after his arrest.

Mr Blanch also revealed Cleo spent her first night at home with mum Ellie Smith and stepdad Jake Gliddon.

“I’m pretty sure they all slept in the same room, just cuddling all night,” he said.

“Ellie and Jake have been through 18 days of hell and I know Australia felt that with them ... I thought they probably were never going to give her a cuddle again.”

Mr Blanch said police would now look to interview Cleo about what had happened in the 18 days since she vanished, but said investigators would have to “be careful”.

“We’ve got to be really careful... we will be talking to Cleo but we have to do it very carefully,” he said.

“We have professional child interviewing experts who will try to get information out of her about those 18 days. It’s a really hard, slow process... but if she doesn’t want to tell us, that’s OK, too.”

Originally published as WA Police to interview Cleo Smith about her abduction