The man accused of abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith has been flown out of the Western Australian town of Carnarvon, on a charter flight to Perth.
Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, was charged late Thursday afternoon with offences including child stealing. He made a brief appearance in Carnarvon Magistrate’s Court, where he was not required to enter a plea.
Kelly has been in custody since around 1am on Wednesday morning, when the car he was driving was stopped by detectives and he was arrested.
Around the same time, Western Australia police entered a Carnarvon home and found Cleo - who police believe was kidnapped from a tent 18 days earlier - alive and well.
After being held at Carnarvon police station since his arrest, custody of Kelly was transferred from WA Police to the Department of Justice (DoJ), which manages corrective services.
Police have confirmed he was taken to hospital twice following his arrest after self-harming while in custody.
Four officers from the DoJ Special Operations Group arrived in Carnarvon on a charter flight on Friday morning, and Kelly was transferred into their custody.
Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, was charged late Thursday afternoon with offences including child stealing. Source: Getty
He was brought to the local airport and boarded the plane in handcuffs, with police saying he has no medical concerns and is fit to be in custody.
One of the four officers who rescued Cleo from a house in Carnarvon in the early hours of Wednesday morning spoke outside court, after Kelly’s court appearance on Thursday afternoon.
“It’s a combination of lots of hard work, and that’s what we’ve been here for,” Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine said.
During his court appearance, Kelly requested that the media not be allowed to release his identity. But the court rejected the application, with the judge saying that given the “notoriety” of this case, it would be almost impossible.
Kelly is expected to be transferred to a maximum security prison in Perth. He will next appear in court on 6 December.
