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Cleo Smith‘s alleged kidnapper who has a room full of dolls, has been charged almost 48 hours after the missing four-year-old girl was rescued by detectives in a late night raid.
Terry Kelly, 36 was charged with multiple offences including forcibly taking a child under 16 and will appear in Carnarvon Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Bizarre details have emerged about the accused’s strange obsession with toys as numerous social media account’s linked to Kelly show a room full of Bratz dolls.
Police will allege the Carnarvon man snatched Cleo from her family tent at the remote Blowholes campsite in remote Western Australia as she slept next to her parents and younger sister on October 16.
Charges were finally laid against Kelly after more than 30 hours of interrogation by detectives who have been relentlessly pursuing the case in the desperate hunt to rescue Cleo.
Cleo Smith’s alleged kidnapper Terry Kelly, 36, is pictured with Bratz dolls on his social media
Bizarre details have emerged about the accused’s strange obsession with toys as numerous social media account’s linked to Kelly show a room full of Bratz dolls
Overgrown shrubs and bushes climb the walls at the Tonkin Crescent home where Cleo was found
Junk was seen in Kelly’s backyard on Thursday morning, as police still assessed the home
The alleged child predator was rounded up by investigators just after midnight on Wednesday following a ‘tip off’ from the public that was corroborated with mobile phone data.
Kelly was bundled out of a car before officers slapped hand cuffs on him.
Detectives then raided his Tonkin Crescent home where they allegedly found Cleo locked in a room.
Since Kelly’s arrest, multiple social media accounts have emerged which allegedly belonged to him, where he boasts about his love for Bratz dolls.
One social media account is allegedly solely dedicated to his obsession with dolls, showing a room in a house filled with the toys.
Detectives said when they found Cleo inside the house, she was ‘playing with toys’.
Cleo holds her back covered in cartoon princesses as mother Ellie and stepfather Jake walk to the car on Thursday morning
Bodycam footage shows the brave little girl being carried out the house, her hair is clean and brushed and her pyjamas are fresh and clean.
Neighbours say the community is reeling from the revelation the ‘quiet bloke’ at number 18 is allegedly the man at the centre of the world’s biggest kidnapping story.
‘I have kids around the same age,’ Kelly’s adjacent neighbour at number 16 said.
‘I saw (Kelly) coming and going. I didn’t really interact with him, he kept to himself. It’s a pretty friendly neighbourhood but he was closed off.’
The man said he never saw any dolls with his neighbour.
‘I never saw anything like that. I just saw him driving his car up and down the street or hanging around outside (Woolworths) in town.’
Terry Kelly, 36, had only been at Carnarvon police station, in Western Australia, for a few hours on Wednesday before he was taken to hospital requiring medical treatment
Since Kelly’s (pictured) arrest, multiple social media accounts have emerged which allegedly belonged to him, where he boasts about his love for Bratz dolls
The process of laying charges on Kelly was delayed after he was allegedly attacked by another prisoner inside a police holding cell within hours of his arrest.
He was taken to hospital with head injuries and released after medical treatment.
But police revealed on Thursday he had been returned to hospital for a second time after he is understood to have suffered new injuries while alone in his cell.
WA Police acting Commissioner Col Blanch earlier warned the suspect must be in good health before he can be interviewed by police.
Any future trial could be jeopardised if detectives try to rush the process, he told Seven’s Sunrise.
‘The important thing for police, if we’re going to interview someone about offences as serious as this… we will need them in a condition where they have had a rest, they’re in a good mental state, they’ve been fed,’ he said.
‘So, we’ve got to make sure we give them the best opportunity to answer questions and that’s to ensure that the court process is validated if we get to that point.’
Police forensic teams are continuing to scour the Tonkin Crescent address where Cleo was found
Cleo will be spoken to by specialist child interviewers when the time is right, police say
Police had been seeking the driver of a car that was seen leaving the Blowholes campsite around the time Cleo was allegedly taken from the tent where she was asleep alongside parents Ellie and Jake and baby sister Isla (pictured)
Kelly had only been at Carnarvon police station for a few hours on Wednesday when he was allegedly set upon by a prisoner and taken to hospital the first time.
That prisoner’s mother told Daily Mail Australia her son was ‘furious’ when he discovered why Kelly had been arrested.
‘As soon as he heard this bloke was arrested over that little Cleo, he blew up, beat him black and blue,’ the woman said.
‘I tell you what, he (Kelly) got a real hiding… my son had to be taken out in shackles, and he (Kelly) was taken for treatment… he was in a bad way. He is a big bloke but he really copped it’.
A spokesman for the Western Australia Police Force said detectives would not be commenting on the woman’s claims.
Kelly was loaded into an ambulance outside the police station yesterday morning and taken to hospital for treatment. A large white bandage was wrapped around his head.
The small community in Western Australia are celebrating Cleo’s safe return after her nightmare ordeal
CLEO DISAPPEARANCE TIMELINE
By Olivia Day for Daily Mail Australia
Friday, October 15
Cleo along with her mother Ellie Smith, her partner Jake Gliddon and her little sister Isla Mae arrive at the Blowholes campsite around 6:30pm.
They had a ‘quiet’ night and arrived at sunset.
Saturday, October 16
1:30am: Parents’ last sighting of Cleo in the tent she shared with her parents and baby sister when the four-year-old asks for some water.
6.23am: Ellie calls 000 to report her eldest daughter missing as she continues to search the camp ground.
6.30am: The first two officers are dispatched from Carnarvon police station. They travel to Blowholes as a matter of priority, with sirens and lights.
6.41am: A second police car with another two officers is sent to Blowholes, also with lights and sirens.
7.10am: The first police car arrives. The second is only minutes behind.
7.26am: Police on the scene establish a protected forensic area which is taped off to the public, surrounding the family tent where Cleo was last seen.
7.33am: A drone operator is called upon to search from the skies.
7.44am: A third police car is dispatched to the Blowholes.
8am: Family and friends of Cleo’s parents begin to arrive to help with the ground search.
Another group of detectives briefly searches Cleo’s home to make sure she’s not there.
They then head to Blowholes and begin stopping cars coming into and leaving the area.
8.09am: A helicopter from a local company arrived at the scene and started searching as police request an SES team attend the Blowholes search.
8.24am: Police air-wing and volunteer marine searchers are called in to assist with the search.
8.34am: Roadblocks are set up at the entrance of Blowholes as detectives gather the names, registration details and addresses of people coming and going. Police search cars.
9.25am: Nine SES personel arrive at the Blowholes to assist with the search.
Investigators, bounty hunters and officers from the Australian Federal Police have spent two-and-a-half weeks searching for missing four-year-old Cleo (pictured)
9.30am: Detectives sit down with a distressed Ellie and remain by her side for the rest of the day while other search crews hunt for Cleo.
11am: Homicide detectives from the Major Crime Division are called and begin travelling from Perth to assist with the search.
1pm: More homicide detectives and search experts are flown in from Perth.
3pm: Officers and search experts arrive in Carnarvon to offer their expertise.
Sunday, October 17
Ms Smith takes to social media to plead for help finding her missing daughter.
A Facebook post uploaded at 1:45am on Sunday which said: ‘It’s been over 24 hours since I last seen the sparkle in my little girl’s eyes.
‘Please help me find her!
‘If you hear or see anything at all please call the police!’
Police suggest Cleo may have been abducted.
Monday, October 18
Police release an image of the red and grey sleeping bag missing from Cleo’s tent.
Cleo’s biological father is interviewed by police in Mandurah and is asked to provide a statement, which he does so willingly.
WA Police with the help of SES members, volunteers and aircraft continue the land hunt for Cleo, with officers searching nearby shacks and vehicles in the area.
Tuesday, October 19
Cleo’s mother Ellie Smith and her partner Jake Gliddon front the media for the first time and describe the terrifying moment they realised the little girl was missing.
Ms Smith says her four-year-old would never have left the tent by herself.
Police release new images of Cleo and the pink and blue one-piece she was wearing the night she went missing to aid the investigation.
Investigators urge anyone who was at the campsite or in the vicinity on October 15 to get in contact with police.
Wednesday, October 20
Police reveal the zip of the family tent, which was found hanging wide open by her mother at 6am on Saturday morning, was too high for Cleo to reach.
Officers say they ‘haven’t ruled out’ reports from campers who heard the sound of screeching tyres in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Deputy Police Commissioner Daryl Gaunt confirms officers are investigating the whereabouts of 20 registered sex offenders in the Carnarvon area.
Thursday, October 21
The WA Government offers a $1million reward for information that leads to Cleo’s location announced by WA Premier Mark McGowan.
‘All Western Australians’ thoughts are with Cleo’s family during what is an unimaginably difficult time,’ Mr McGowan said.
‘We’re all praying for a positive outcome.’
The speed of the reward being issued – within days of her disappearance – was unprecedented.
Pictured: Police are seen examining rubbish left near the Blowholes campsite in remote WA
Monday, October 25
WA Police confirm Cleo was definitely at the camp site – on CCTV footage on a camera installed inside a beach shack just 20 metres from the family tent she disappeared from.
Tuesday, October 26
Forensic officers and detectives spent much of the day at her home in Carnarvon, 900km north of Perth, on Tuesday and left with two bags of evidence.
Although investigators had been to the home before, this was the first time they thoroughly searched inside with a forensics team.
Acting WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the search of the family home was ‘standard practice’ and did not indicate they were suspects in Cleo’s disappearance.
Wednesday, October 27
WA Police forensics officers return to the Blowholes campground and are seen collecting soil samples from a number of campfires near shacks in the area.
The federal government announce Australian Federal Police officers had been drafted in to support forensic and intelligence efforts.
Friday, October 29
Police return to the Blowholes camp to analyse the area with drones.
Detective Superintendent Rod Wilde returns to the Blowholes campsite to join the search for Cleo as the search hit the two-week mark.
He confirms national and international agencies are engaged in the search for Cleo.
Sunday, October 31
Detectives go door-knocking at a number of homes along the North West Coastal Highway in the North Plantations, 5km from Cleo’s hometown on Sunday.
Monday, November 1
Detectives sort through mounds of rubbish from roadside bins located hundreds of kilometres away from the campsite she vanished from.
The material was transported to Perth, where forensic officers and recruits sorted through hundreds of bags in search of items that may have helped them find Cleo.
Officers issue a plea for dash cam and CCTV footage from within a 1000km radius of where the four-year-old disappeared.
Police renew an appeal for more businesses in Carnarvon to provide footage and go door to door in an industrial area on the outskirts of the town.
Her elated mother, Ellie, (pictured, with Cleo, her partner and younger daughter) broke her silence the morning Cleo was found, sharing a series of love heart emojis on Instagram
Wednesday, November 3
After two-and-a-half weeks of searching Cleo Smith is found alive and well in the early hours of November 3.
WA Police Deputy Commissioner Col Blanch confirmed just before 7am AEST that little Cleo is alive and well and had been reunited with her relieved parents.
‘One of the officers picked her up into his arms and asked her ‘what’s your name?’ he said. ‘She said: ‘My name is Cleo’.’
Ellie Smith posted to social media: ‘Our family is whole again’.
A Carnarvon man is currently in custody and being questioned by detectives.
On October 19, Ellie Smith (pictured) and her partner Jake Gliddon fronted the media for the first time and begged the public to report any information ‘big or small’
Source: DailyMail
