A criminal justice expert believes Terence Kelly received a “fair sentence” for kidnapping four-year-old Cleo Smith and holding her for 18 days, during which time he turned up the radio to drown out her cries for help when she heard her name said. broadcast.
Police criticized 37-year-old Kelly’s sentence of 13 years and six months in prison on Wednesday in Perth District Court as too lenient.
Cleo was kidnapped while sleeping with her family at the Blowholes campsite, about 600 miles north of Perth, on October 16, 2021 and was held captive at Kelly’s nearby home in Carnarvon before an exhausting weeks-long police search ended in her rescue.
Newcastle University criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett admitted that Kelly’s sentence, which would make him eligible for parole in 11 years, may not seem adequate.
Kelly admitted in a police interview that he was “roughened up.” [Cleo] picked up a few times” and said he slapped her when she was “bossy.”
Four-year-old Cleo Smith (pictured) after being rescued by police from the home of kidnapper Terence Kelly in 2021
“The community may feel this is a fairly light sentence, the maximum was 20 years, but there were serious extenuating circumstances,” Dr Mallett told Sunrise on Thursday.
‘The perpetrator has a very complex behavioral and traumatic past and the judge certainly took this into account when sentencing.’
Kelly confessed to being on drugs during the crime and has a history of childhood trauma, which Dr. Mallett said would have influenced the judge’s decision making.
“He (Kelly) also has cognitive impairment and very severe personality disorders, so it was a complex picture for the judge to weigh,” Dr Mallett said.
“The methamphetamine was used to treat some of his trauma, just played into it and made everything so much worse for him in the time leading up to the abduction.”
Terence Darrell Kelly (pictured center) was sentenced to 13 and a half years in prison on Wednesday for the kidnapping and imprisonment of Cleo
It came up in court during the time Cleo was held captive, Kelly turned up the radio to drown out her cries for help, while also hearing her name broadcast as the police made their desperate search.
“This must have been very traumatic for her,” Dr. Mallett said.
“Eighteen days is a really long time in a four-year-old’s life and to hear her name on the radio and not understand why he wouldn’t return her to her mother must have been incredibly traumatic for her.
“We are very lucky that she returned physically unharmed, but there is significant trauma that she would have suffered.”
Newcastle University criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett told Channel Seven that while some may think Kelly’s sentence was light, she thought it was fair given the circumstances
Dr. Mallett praised WA police for finding Cleo and their support for the four-year-old and her family.
“I think it definitely says something about the amount of time, effort and love they put into this case to find this child,” she said.
“It was a great result, one that none of us expected.
“I’m glad the formal part is over for the family because they really need time to consolidate and move on so it doesn’t haunt them for the rest of their lives.
“Cleo is a very young girl with her whole future ahead of her.”
This echoed the personal message WA commissioner Col Blanch gave to Cleo on Wednesday.
“We owe you your privacy, we owe it to you to grow up and make your dreams come true. So on behalf of all of us, it’s time we gave you the space to do that,” he said.
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch (pictured) criticized Kelly’s “evil” crimes after conviction and praised the police’s tireless efforts to find Cleo
Commissioner Blanch said finding Cleo was ‘the biggest story in the history of Western Australian Police’.
He described the crime committed by Kelly as “evil,” “heinous,” and “parents’ worst nightmare.”
“As I said before, I am the police commissioner and I respect the rule of law, but as a father I could never forgive that,” he said.
Commissioner Blanch questioned the verdict handed down to Kelly.
‘At the beginning of my career I spoke to a father of a victim of a serious crime. And he said to me: as a father, a million years is not enough and that is driven by emotion – and as a father, I understand that,’ he said.
And I would expect that the community would never think that 13-and-a-half years is enough.
“But Judge (Julie) Wager had to weigh a lot of things, and there were a lot of extenuating circumstances and I respect the court’s decision.”