Back in October, a 4-year-old child named Cleo Smith was taken from her family's campsite in Australia. She was sleeping in a tent with her sister, her mother, and her mother's partner at the time. Now a man has pleaded guilty to abducting her.
In a virtual court hearing from a maximum security prison, 36-year-old Terence Darrell Kelly admitted to abducting the child, who was found in his home 18 days later. He faces up to 20 years in prison on a conviction of "forcibly taking a child aged under 16."
His next hearing is set for March.
Little Cleo was taken from a campsite on October 16. Her disappearance made headlines all over the globe. Then, on November 3, the world breathed a collective sigh of relief when she was found alive by police.
Cleo was found in a locked room of Kelly's house, about 62 miles from the campsite where she went missing, Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch said at the time. "One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her 'What's your name?' She said, 'My name is Cleo.'"
Thankfully, Cleo had no injuries. "We are so thankful that our little girl is back within our arms and our family is whole again," said Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon, Cleo's mother and stepfather, in a statement. "We are humbled by the love and support that we have received from not only our local community but the whole of Western Australia and across the country."
Not much is known about the man who abducted Cleo, but his neighbors say he largely kept to himself. "I never heard him speak, except after his grandmother died. He was in distress and didn't want to leave the house," his former neighbor in Carnarvon told Daily Mail Australia.
He was seen walking daily to buy groceries for his grandmother, whom neighbors said he was extremely devoted to. She had bought him a car, which was what he was driving upon his arrest.
He also had a large collection of Bratz dolls, which were found in the home where he took Cleo. In 2020, he posted photos of the dolls to Facebook. In one post he wrote, "I love taking my dolls for drive arounds and doing their hair and taking selfies in public."
