In the case of Cleo Smith kidnapped in Australia, the accused has been sentenced to 13 years and 6 months in prison.
The 37-year-old suffers “from a severe and complex personality disorder” and was drugged the night of the crime, said judge Julie Wager, according to Australian media reports. The kidnapping was extremely traumatic for the then four-year-old child, she explained at the verdict in Perth.
Little Cleo disappeared from the family tent at night in mid-October 2021 from a campsite 75 kilometers north of her hometown of Carnarvon. When the parents woke up in the morning, both their daughter and her sleeping bag were gone.
18 days gone
For 18 days there was no trace of the girl until she was finally freed from a locked house in her hometown. The owner of the house was arrested on the street nearby.
The man pleaded guilty in court last year. He did not apply for release on bail. Neighbors later described the now convicted man as a loner. The case made headlines around the world.
