Sentence handed down for Cleo Smith abductor
In the dramatic conclusion of the Cleo Smith abduction case that gripped Australia, her abductor has been handed his jail sentence.
Terence Kelly, who took the then-four-year-old from a campsite in Western Australia, has been sentenced to 13 years and six months in jail.
He will have to serve over 11 years before he is eligible for early release on parole.
The sentence was handed down on Wednesday by Perth District Court Chief Judge Julie Wager, with Cleo's parents, Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon, in court to hear the outcome.
The Chief Judge of WA's District Court Julie Wager gave Kelly the full 25 per cent discount, or five years, off his sentence for his early guilty plea when he first plead guilty upon his arrest for the crime in January 2022.
The 37-year-old snatched Cleo from the Quobba Blowholes campsite, a remote coastal area in WA, as she slept beside her parents and baby sister on the night of October 16, 2021.
He then held her captive in his home in the rural town of Carnavon for 18 days before she was found by police.
Her disappearance sparked one of the biggest searches in Western Australian history, and had the country gripped and hoping for her safe return.
Image credits: Getty Images / WA Police