It has been reported that the Nine Network will pay $2 million for an interview with the parents of a four-year-old girl, Cleo Smith who became one of the largest deals in Australian television history when she was found alive after being abducted.
Cleo Smith was allegedly abducted from her family's tent at a campsite near Carnavon, in Western Australia on 16 October 2021. It took almost three weeks to find her at Carnavon House unharmed and alive. She was abducted by Terence Darrell Kelly and he was charged with offenses including forcibly taking a child aged under 16 and is set to appear in court on 24 January.
Cleo's parents are currently asking other parents whose children have been unwittingly thrust into the spotlight. They are asking how young victims of high-profile crimes recovered psychologically and if the process of professional counseling was worthwhile according to some reports. The WA Police Force's spokeswoman encouraged Cleo's parents to talk about her future with parents of other children of similar traumatic events.
Moreover, Cleo's parents are wanting to change her first name and last name in an effort to protect her identity but the forensic psychologist Tim Watson-Munro said that there'd have to be fairly compelling reasons for that. He talked about how Ms. Smith wanted not to draw any publicity by changing her daughter's identity but he said, "that has to be considered in the context of the age of the child, the child's sense of identity at that age."
He told the Daily Mail, "I guess it's a case-by-case scenario depending on the publicity and how robust the child is but it's not something you'd race into my view."
Moreover, child psychologist, Dr. Michael Carr-Gregg told Sunrise how the biggest concern for Cleo is childhood PTSD where a child has constant scary thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks, a marked change in mood and thinking. He had also said, "I think mum and dad are going to have to do a lot to shield her from her newfound notoriety because I don't think that's going to be helpful."
Cleo Smith Disappearance/Found Alive Details
Cleo Smith's family was on the first night of their holiday at the Quobba Blowholes camping ground but their eldest four-year-old daughter, Cleo Smith went missing between 1:30 and 6:00 on 16 October 2021. She was sleeping on an air mattress next to her younger sister's cot. Her parents found her missing when the tent door was open the next morning.
After some police investigations, Ms. Smith insisted that Cleo wouldn't have left the tent herself as the zip of the tent was high enough for her not to reach so the police became sure that this was an abduction case. Then, more than 100 officers were involved in a major search operation and the WA Police Commissioner described the search as looking for a needle in a haystack.
The ABC reporter described the search operation saying how they were up in the air, on horseback using drones to forensically map every area inch by inch looking for clues. They even scoured through hundreds of bags of rubbish and withdrew their efforts from the coastal campsite. Then they found that a car left the campground around 03:00 on the night Cleo disappeared that was backed up by a motorist that claimed the car was heading towards Carnavon.
The detective Supt Rod Wilde said that they had to sift through a lot of information and statements of 100 people at the campsites, CCTV footage, data from phones, and many more. After one week of the girl missing, the Western Australian government offered a A$1 million reward for information on Cleo's whereabouts which didn't produce much output.
But Commissioner Dawson told reporters how a car helped them to direct the police into the house where Cleo was kept hidden. According to a newspaper, police traced a mobile number to a phone tower near the campsite around the time of Cleo's abduction and had their focus on Mr. Kelly.
Detective Supt also said that they have to be careful during the wider investigation which is continuing. The parents of Cleo Smith had thanked Police and locals of their remote Western community for helping to bring back their daughter and released a public statement that said, "In particular, we would like to thank WA Police, all those involved in the initial search, the Carnarvon community, local business and of course our family and friends. We are so thankful that our little girl is back within our arms and our family is while again."
They also asked for their privacy saying, "As we try to get on with our lives, we ask that you respect our privacy."
Cleo's biological dad Daniel Staines also released an emotional statement following his daughter's rescue saying thank you to everyone who helped look for Cleo and bring her home back. Cleo's stepfather, Jake Gliddton, and her mother Ellie Smith were not considered suspects by the police.