By Heather McNeill and Jesinta Burton
The West Australian detective who made international headlines when he rescued kidnapped girl Cleo Smith has been accused of police misconduct by the state’s Corruption and Crime Commission after allegedly having a secret affair with a young journalist and leaking confidential information about the case to her.
Homicide squad Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine, 50, led the raid of abductor Terence Kelly’s Carnarvon home in November 2021, asking Cleo for her name, prompting the four-year-old’s famous response, “My name is Cleo”.
Detective Cameron Blaine (left) during a press conference about Cleo Smith’s rescue.Credit: Nine News Perth
After public praise for the rescue was heaped upon Blaine, allegations of misconduct emerged and he was stood down on full pay in September 2022, pending a CCC investigation. He resigned from WA Police shortly before the CCC report was tabled on Thursday.
The report alleged Blaine released confidential information to the journalist, and misused a police vehicle to repeatedly visit her at her home.
The journalist, 22, claimed she and Blaine – a married man twice her age – developed an intimate relationship while in Carnarvon a week after Cleo was found, however, Blaine denied this.
The CCC said it did not accept his conflicting assertions after the journalist provided a “wealth of material” to support her version of events.
“Blaine’s characterisation of the relationship is belied by the content of messages recovered from the phones,” the CCC report read.
“The totality of his messages to [the journalist] paints a different picture from that he now portrays.”
Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine at an event where he was formally recognised for his part in the rescue of Cleo Smith. Credit: Cameron Myles
The CCC found Blaine “grew friendly” with the young journalist while working to find Cleo.
“During Operation Rodia, journalists and reporters for both print and electronic media were lodged in motels and other places in Carnarvon, as were police,” the report read.
“Members of each socialised together on occasion. There is no evidence of wrongdoing on [the journalist’s] part.”
The journalist told the watchdog Blaine shared details about the investigation into the abduction with her, including the route Kelly took, his history, Cleo’s sleeping bag not being recovered and bodycam vision of inside Kelly’s home.
Blaine denied the allegations, but the commission found the journalist was able to recall details of the content of the footage that were not made public.
“For the most part”, she did not publish or share the information provided to her by Blaine, the commission said.
The commission also alleged Blaine misused his unmarked police car to make multiple trips to see the journalist, in breach of policy.
Between November 2021 and March 2022, the commission alleged Blaine drove his work car to the journalist’s house nine times, and on some occasions listed the visits under “Operation Rodia”.
After the relationship soured, he drove past the house four times between March and May, on one occasion leaving gifts. From July, the commission alleged Blaine began using the work car to visit another woman.
“DSS Blaine engaged in serial deceit in the use of police motor vehicles, disguising the reason for their use on occasion with false entries into a log book,” the report read.
“His improper use of police vehicles adversely affects his credibility generally. His credibility is also affected by the clandestine nature of his relationship with [the journalist] and another woman.”
Although the lion’s share of the alleged disclosures were made to the journalist at the centre of the probe, the commission found Blaine disclosed confidential information about other homicide investigations to other journalists as well.
And text messages found Blaine was conscious of his wrongdoing, sending a message to a journalist on June 14, 2022 asking to communicate via an encrypted app to avoid scrutiny.
“Do you have Signal? All the messages going through the phone exchange to a journalist is going to cause me grief lol,” Blaine’s text read.
On Thursday, Police Commissioner Col Blanch said WA Police was clear about the standard of behaviour expected by its officers, and indicated those who failed that test would be “out the door”.
Blanch said he didn’t believe the incident had tarnished the Cleo rescue, which involved 150 officers, but conceded it meant more work for him as commissioner.
“Now, is it a stain on me as commissioner? Well, I’ve got work to do if we’ve got conduct like that existing in our police force, but again, I’ve got a track record of removing them as quick as possible as soon as I become aware,” he said.
The CCC report recommended police review its vehicle commuting policy and remind officers periodically of the importance of confidential information.
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