Cleo Smith abduction suspect spends first night in tough maximum security jail alongside notorious killers

CLEO Smith’s alleged kidnapper has spent his first night locked up with some of Australia’s most violent villains. 

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, arrived at Casuarina Prison south of Perth in shackles yesterday afternoon after being arrested by officers who swooped on a property and rescued the missing four-year-old. 

Terence Darrell Kelly boards a plane yesterday after being taken into custody by members of the Special Operations Group at Carnarvon airportCredit: Getty Cleo Smith is carried inside a friend's house by her motherCredit: Getty Images - Getty Casuarina Prison is considered one of Australia's toughest prisonsCredit: Google

Until at least his next court appearance in December, Kelly will be held at the maximum-security jail, which is home to some of Western Australia’s notorious criminals.

This includes Dante Arthurs who brutally raped and strangled an eight-year-old girl in 2006.

Another lifer is the Claremont serial killer, Bradley Edwards.

In December 2020 he was jailed for at least 40 years for the abduction and murder of two young women in their twenties. 

Inmates often savagely attack each other and one prison guard has revealed colleagues being raped, beaten, and robbed at work

The hellish conditions inside Casuarina are a far cry from the quiet life Kelly lived in the council home, just a seven-minute drive from Cleo's family home.

Neighbours describe a “quiet” man who did not have many visitors.

Posts on his Facebook page show he had an interest in Bratz dolls. 

Kelly, who is accused of taking Cleo from her family’s tent in Blowholes campground site in Western Australia about three weeks ago, arrived at the jail after appearing in Carnarvon Magistrates Court.

He faces several criminal charges including one count of forcibly taking a child under 16.

After weeks of searching in the Outback, Cleo was found in a room inside a locked house.

The property where the little girl was found on Wednesday was just a seven-minute drive from her family home.

In the audio clip, a male police officer can be heard saying “we got her, we got her”.

Kelly had been pulled over by police earlier in the night and taken into custody. He was questioned for about 30 hours before charges were laid.

Cleo Smith’s alleged abductor collects Bratz dollsCredit: NO Police stand guard outside the house where missing girl Cleo Smith was rescuedCredit: EPA Cleo Smith suspect cuffed in shackles with special ops cops after being charged with abducting four-year-old
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