Cleo Smith abduction: Date set for sentencing

Cleo Smith’s alleged abductor Terence Darrell Kelly.

A date has finally been set for the sentencing of a man who admitted to kidnapping four-year-old Cleo Smith, whose 18-day disappearance gripped the state of Western Australia.

Terrence Kelly was arrested on November 3, 2021 following Cleo’s abduction from her family’s campsite north of the holiday town of Carnarvon on October 16.

The 37-year-old subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of forcibly taking a child and will now face sentencing on April 5 before WA District Court Chief Judge Julie Wager.

It’s likely Kelly will appear in court in person.

Missing toddler Cleo Smith, from Western Australia. Photo / West Australian Police

The court is also expected to hear more about the ongoing trauma suffered by Cleo and her parents in victim impact statements.

It’s understood Kelly had an obsession with dolls and was an avid collector of Bratz dolls, and Cleo’s mother Ellie had previously said she believed the abduction was a way to turn her daughter into a “living doll” of sorts.

Kelly was in January fined $1000 over a charge of obstructing police, relating to an incident while he was being held in custody at Carnarvon Police Station on November 4, 2021.

Cleo Smith's parents Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon.

It was about 9pm when Kelly was being escorted outside the police station to smoke.

On his way back to a holding cell, he pushed past officers, ran into a room and armed himself with a riot shield, hitting officers on the hands before he was restrained.