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Fresh charge likely as Cleo’s alleged abductor returns to court

Details of a fresh charge laid against Cleo Smith’s alleged abductor are expected to be outlined when he returns to court.

Jan 24, 2022, updated Jan 24, 2022
Cleo Smith (4) and her mum Ellie Smith are seen leaving a house where she spent her first night after being rescued in Carnarvon, 900km north of the capital Perth in November.  (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

Cleo Smith (4) and her mum Ellie Smith are seen leaving a house where she spent her first night after being rescued in Carnarvon, 900km north of the capital Perth in November. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, is accused of taking four-year-old Cleo from her family’s tent at the remote Blowholes campsite in Western Australia last year.

He will face a magistrate via videolink from custody on Monday, charged with multiple offences including forcibly taking a child under 16.

Kelly is also facing a new charge of assaulting a public officer.

The charge relates to an incident in Carnarvon on November 4 last year – the same date on which he first faced court in relation to Cleo’s disappearance.

Cleo was found alive and well in early November, 18 days after she went missing from the campsite.

She was rescued from a property just minutes from her family home in the nearby town of Carnarvon, almost 1000km north of Perth.

Police forced entry to the home and found the little girl alone in a room, physically unharmed and playing with toys.

Kelly was arrested on a nearby street around the same time. He is alleged to have acted alone and is yet to enter a plea to his charges.

Police have said he has no connection to Cleo’s family.

Kelly was shackled and accompanied by armed riot squad guards on a charter flight from Carnarvon to Perth after his first court appearance.

The extra security was put in place after Kelly was twice hospitalised with self-inflicted injuries while in custody.

Bail was not considered when Kelly returned to court last month for an appearance via videolink from Casuarina Prison.

 

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