West Australian police have charged a 36-year-old man in relation to the alleged abduction of Cleo Smith.
The four-year-old, who went missing on October 16, was found alive and well yesterday in a locked house in Carnarvon, Western Australia, just a few minutes drive from her family's home.
In a statement, WA law enforcement said that Terrence Darrell Kelly had been charged with several offenses related to the purported kidnap of the child, including "one count of forcibly taking a child under 16," per The Guardian.
Kelly appeared before a magistrate in Carnarvon on Thursday afternoon.
Here is the moment Cleo Smith is rescued by police after going missing for more than two weeks:
This comes after The Independent reports that Kelly was treated in hospital for a second time following reports that he was "attacked" while in police custody.
According to police, the 36-year-old has been transferred to hospital twice in order to receive treatment for his injuries since his arrest. One uncorroborated report claimed that a fellow prisoner "beat him black and blue," and another alleged that Kelly had attempted self-harm.
On November 3, police forced their way inside Kelly's property in order to rescue the little girl and bring her back to her family after she went missing from her family's tent during a camping trip in a remote part of Australia 18 days prior.
In the short video taken in the evening, Cleo is seen being carried by a police officer in a hat and a hoodie as she is greeted by one of the investigators.
Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine says to the child: "Cleo, my name's Cameron, how are you? Are you okay? We're going to take you to see your mommy and daddy, OK? Is that good?"
Cleo is seen nodding in response to the questions, but does not appear to say anything to the detective.
Blaine told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday, November 3, per Daily Mail:
"I just wanted to be absolutely sure that, it certainly looks like Cleo, I wanted to be sure it was her.
"I said, ‘what is your name?’ She didn’t answer, I said ‘what’s your name?’ and she didn’t answer again. So I asked her a third time and then she looked at me and said, ‘My name is Cleo.’"
Blaine continued:
"Then we turned around and walked out of the house. Not long after that, we got into the car and the officer I was with called Cleo's parents and said 'we've got someone here that wants to speak to you.'
"It was a wonderful feeling to make that call. They were ecstatic."
Per The Guardian, the WA police minister, Paul Papalia, said of the four-year-old's rescue: "If you feel the need to thank God today, thank God for the West Australian police force.
"Cleo's rescue wasn't the result of an accidental sighting or a suspicious event, it was the result of hard police grind from the moment this incident began."