Cleo Smith kidnap suspect winks as he's taken to maximum security prison
5 November 2021, 11:53
The man accused of abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith today winked as he was carted off to a maximum security prison.
Terence Kelly, flanked by police officers, winked at photographers as he boarded a plane in Carnarvon, Australia.
He has been transported to Perth, where he will be held in custody until his next court appearance next month.
Kelly, 36, was yesterday charged with abducting Cleo from a camping tent near Carnarvon, her home town, on 16 October. She was found alive and well in a locked house in the town on Wednesday.
Police visited Cleo's family as they prepared to gather crucial witness evidence.
Officer Cameron Blaine, who was part of the team which found Cleo, said: "I can only see her on the outside, but from that point of view, I'm amazed that she seems to be so well-adjusted and happy, and it was really... heartwarming to see that she's still bubbly and she's laughing.
"I'm sure that it has had an impact, but just to see her behaving quite naturally like a four-year-old girl should do and just enjoying being in the presence of her little sister and her family was good.”
Kelly has been charged with forcibly taking a child among other offences. He appeared briefly in court in Carnarvon yesterday, with a magistrate refusing to release him on bail.
