Cleo Smith kidnapper to be sentenced 518 days after she was found alive

The man who kidnapped four-year-old Cleo Smith from her family’s campsite is set to face court.

The man who snatched Cleo Smith from a tent on a family camping trip is set to learn his fate 518 days after the girl was found alive.

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, pleaded guilty to a charge of child stealing in January 2022, two months after his dramatic arrest and the rescue of four-year-old Cleo from Kelly’s home in Carnarvon, about 900km north of Perth.

The November 3 arrest came 18 days after Kelly, under the cover of darkness, kidnapped Cleo as she slept in her family’s tent where her parents and younger sister had set up at the remote Point Quobba campsite, in an area known as Blowholes, about a 50 minute drive from Carnarvon.

He will be in sentenced in a Western Australian court on Wednesday.

Cleo Smith was snatched from a tent on a family camping trip. Source: 60 Minutes

Terence Kelly pleaded guilty to a charge of child stealing in January 2022. Picture: Supplied

What came next was a massive police manhunt, and an agonising wait from Cleo’s parents Ellie and Jake.

The search gripped Australia, awaiting news of the girl being found alive and well, or fearing the worst.

But the search ended when police stormed Kelly’s Tonkin Cres home in the early hours of October 15, finding a young girl inside.

Terence Kelly is pictured as he was escorted to a Perth-bound prisoner transport aircraft at Carnarvon Airport. Picture: Colin Murty.

Bodycam footage from the rescue showed an officer asking the child what her name was.

“My name is Cleo,” she responded. Cleo had been found in a house just kilometres from her family home.

Kelly was arrested that same day and taken to Carnarvon Police Station.

Little Cleo was pictured clutching an ice block shortly after she was rescued. Picture: AFP / Western Australian Police Force.

The following evening of November 4, Kelly was escorted back to his holding cell in the station after being taken outside for a smoke when he pushed past officers, ran into a room, armed himself with a riot shield, and used it to smack the hands of officers who eventually managed to disarm him.

In January of this year Kelly pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of obstructing police and was fined $1000 over that incident.

Kelly will on Wednesday go before WA District Court chief judge Julie Wagner to be sentenced, where it’s expected the full details surrounding the incident will be revealed.

WA Premier Mark McGowan was asked about the sentencing at a media conference on Tuesday.

“It’s obviously a dramatic event for Cleo and her family, and I’m sure they’ll watch with interest, but I’ll let the courts do their job,” said Mr McGowan.

Mr McGowan flew to Carnarvon on the day Cleo was found, presenting her and her sister with teddy bears dressed as police officers.

“It was a lovely experience to meet her,” said Mr McGowan in a media conference at the time, having visited Cleo and her family in their home.

“Cleo was a delightful little girl who was playing in the backyard. She was a very bright, upbeat, sweet little girl.

“She was, I felt very well-adjusted … and the family were very appreciative of everything that had been done for them.”

Originally published as Cleo Smith kidnapper to be sentenced 518 days after she was found alive