The mother of Cleo Smith says her family remains angry and heartbroken after the sentencing of their five-year-old daughter’s kidnapper.
Key points:
- Ellie Smith says what happened to her daughter was “disgusting”
- A recent road trip helped the family “find ourselves again after trauma”
- Cleo’s kidnapper was last month sentenced to over 13 years in jail
Ellie Smith said while her family was trying to move on, speaking about Terence Kelly – who snatched Cleo from the family’s tent at a remote campsite on Western Australia’s Gascoyne coast on October 16, 2021 – was difficult.
“Obviously, we’re still sad, hurt, scared, angry, terrified,” she told Nine’s 60 Minutes program on Sunday.
“It is hard talking about him and what happened.
“But we try not to let it rule our life.”
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Cleo was taken from her tent at the Quobba Blowholes campsite, north of Carnarvon, while the family slept.
A massive land, air and sea search was launched, but there was no trace of the little girl for 18 days, or the sleeping bag she was in when her parents put her to bed.
She was eventually found in a home at Carnarvon, several kilometres from her family home.
Details of ordeal ‘disgusting’
Kelly, 37, was sentenced early last month to 13 years and six months in jail for the kidnapping.
During Sunday’s interview, Ms Smith – who was at Kelly’s sentencing with her partner Jake Gliddon – said hearing the details of the ordeal still made her angry.
“It’s disgusting,” she said.
“To hear that someone’s like capable of doing that to a child, let alone our child who clearly is so innocent … she is such a ball of sunshine, it’s just heartbreaking.
The court heard Cleo heard her name mentioned on the radio and said to Kelly: “They’re saying my name.”
Kelly later told police he had first tried to tie up Cleo with sticky tape, and when that did not work he tried to tie her to a chair, but he said “she was a bit of a fighter”.
“Someone’s tied our child, someone’s hurt our kid. We are angry, and we’ll always be angry,” Ms Smith said.
Family looks ahead as Cleo starts school
The family had recently set off on a four-month road trip around Australia with Cleo and her younger sister.
“We’ve never really travelled,” Ms Smith said.
“Even though it was scary, it was something we needed to do. Everywhere we went it was so beautiful. It just made us realise how beautiful Australia really is.
“We were able to find ourselves again after trauma.”
The family has also moved away from Carnarvon, and Ms Smith said Cleo, now five years old, had enjoyed starting school.
“She loves her school, she loves ballet,” Ms Smith said.
“She’s just starting tap and she wants to do horse riding. She has so much to live for, she’s such a vibrant little soul.”
Ms Smith said while the family still goes through tough days, having her daughter home safe was all that mattered.
“We’re grateful for having our little girl home,” she said.