The remarkable kidnap ordeal that captured the attention of the nation and made headlines around the world will be back in the spotlight today when the man who snatched four-year-old Cleo Smith in outback Western Australia is expected to be sentenced in a Perth court.
Terence Darrell Kelly, 37, is facing a jail term of up to 20 years for taking the little girl from her family's tent on October 16, 2021, and keeping her for the next 18 days.
However, Kelly is likely to receive a substantial discount of up to 25 per cent — or five years — for his early plea of guilty which he entered in January last year at his third court appearance, only two months after his arrest.
The sentencing discount will reflect Kelly's apparent remorse for his actions, his cooperation with the authorities and the cost saving to taxpayers from what otherwise could be a lengthy trial.
Most importantly, it spares Cleo and her family the ordeal of having to repeatedly relive their ordeal in police interviews and in court proceedings.
Cleo found in locked house
Whatever jail term he receives, it will almost certainly be backdated to the time of his arrest — November 3, 2021, when, in the early hours of the morning he was taken into custody after police intercepted a car in the town of Carnarvon, in WA's Gascoyne region.
Around the same time, police broke into Kelly's locked state-owned home, just minutes away, and discovered Cleo in a room alone.
It was more than two weeks after Kelly snatched the little girl from her family's tent at the Quobba Blow Holes, about 70 kilometres, north of Carnarvon on October 16, 2021.
Cleo was last seen by her mother Ellie and her stepfather Jake when she woke around 1.30am and asked for a glass of water.
When Ellie and Jake awoke the next morning, they discovered Cleo was missing, along with her sleeping bag. The zip on the tent was also open about 30 centimetres.
They raised the alarm immediately, sparking a widespread search across Western Australia, and the nation, with the state government also offering a $1 million reward for any information on her whereabouts.
'My name is Cleo'
As the days and then weeks passed, there was still no sign of her — until November 3, when in an early morning video, then deputy Police commissioner, Col Blanch, announced Cleo had been found.
He revealed that about one o'clock that morning, detectives had broken into the locked house, just minutes away from Cleo's family home, and found her alone in a room.
In an audio clip released hours later, detectives can be heard asking the child her name before she replies, "my name is Cleo".
The detectives are then seen on body camera footage telling the child, who is in the arms of the one of the officers, that they are going to take her home to her see mummy and daddy.
Judge to consider Kelly's background
Kelly was initially held at the local police station but was transferred to Casuarina maximum security prison in Perth after he was charged over an incident with an officer, in which he hit them on the hand with a police shield.
He has been held there ever since, and that time in custody — one year and five months — will be taken into account with his sentence likely to backdated to the time of his arrest.
Kelly's background and personal circumstances are also likely to be considered by the sentencing judge.
After his arrest, an investigation by the ABC, discovered his image on a social media account that posted about loving children's "Bratz" dolls and claiming to have a partner and children, despite living alone.
The profile included a video of the man in a room with shelves filled with dolls and with a filter on his face giving him larger eyes and love heart emojis in his hair.
Little else is known about him, other than he was raised in Carnarvon by a respected Aboriginal woman who had taken him in, after he was removed from his mother's care aged two.
He was raised in the same household as the woman's grandson, Ashley Bropho, who in March this year was found dead in his cell at Hakea prison, whilst awaiting to be sentenced for luring a 9-year-old girl from a park and trying to sexually abuse her.
Kelly exposed to substance abuse, violence
At Bropho's sentencing hearing, the District Court was told that during his childhood, he was exposed to substance abuse and violence.
Cleo's rescue was regarded as a great success for the WA police, with the then Commissioner, Chris Dawson, describing it as "one of the most remarkable days in policing in Western Australia".
In particular, the role of the detectives who worked tirelessly for 18 days to find her, was singled out for praise, including Detective Cameron Blaine who was one of the officers who stormed into Kelly's home.
However, in September last year it was revealed that Detective Blaine had been stood down for alleged misconduct after a joint police and Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) investigation.
That investigation, which it is understood does not relate to the Cleo case, remains ongoing.
Kelly will be sentenced by the Chief Judge of WA's District Court, Julie Wager.
