A man has pleaded guilty to abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith from her tent while she was on a family camping holiday in Australia.
Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, admitted to the abduction during a brief court appearance on Monday.
Cleo vanished from her tent in the remote Quobba Blowholes camping ground in Western Australia sparking a huge search that gripped the country.
She was found alone in a house in Carnarvon, her home town of 5,000 people, a short drive from the campsite 18 days after she went missing last October.
Police who found her wept with relief when she told them, “My name is Cleo,” when they asked her identity.
Her family later released a statement saying they were “so thankful that our little girl is back within our arms”.
Kelly was remanded in custody to face the Perth District Court in March, and is expected to be sentenced at a later date.
He faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. He will next appear in a Western Australian state District Court in Perth on March 20.
Kelly has not entered a plea to other criminal charges he faces, including assaulting a public officer. Those charges have been adjourned to a later date.
