37-year-old WA man Terence Kelly has been sentenced over the abduction of four-year-old Cleo Smith in 2021.
Kelly was sentenced to 13 years and six months in jail after pleading guilty to the kidnapping in Perth District Court on Wednesday.
Smith was abducted from a Quobba Blowholes campsite on October 16, 2021, and kept in Kelly’s Carnarvon house. There, she was held captive for a total of 18 days.
Smith’s disappearance launched one of the largest police searches in WA history, even receiving attention from publications around the world.
Perth District Court Chief Judge Julie Wager reportedly told the court that Kelly played the radio at a high volume to mask Smith’s noise.
“She pleaded to go to her parents, she asked mainly for her mother,” said Wager, per The Age.
“You put on the radio loudly in the bathroom to cover up any noise that Cleo made.
“The young victim heard her name on the radio and she said they were saying her name.”
Kelly reportedly told the court that he “wanted to hold on to” Smith but “knew it was wrong”.
Psychiatrists appointed by the court revealed that Kelly had a severe personality disorder that had developed from “complex” childhood trauma.
He was also revealed to have been high on methamphetamines at the time of the kidnapping.
“We have to have a lot of empathy and compassion for the family,” WA police commissioner Col Blanch told the ABC.
“Let them get back to the normal life.
“This is probably the most amazing case I’ve ever seen in the history of my law enforcement career.
“I couldn’t ask those police officers to go home because they didn’t want to for 18 days … they did everything they could to get the outcome that we achieved.
“Hopefully, you know, this really closes the chapter on this book.”
Kelly will be eligible for release on parole after 11 years in prison.
