The man who abducted Cleo Smith from a family camping holiday will spend at least 11 years and six months behind bars.

Terence Kelly appeared in Western Australia’s District Court on Wednesday to be sentenced over a charge of stealing a child, to which he’d pleaded guilty in January last year.

He was sentenced to 13 years six months behind bars. He will be eligible for parole after serving 11 and a half years, backdated to November 3, 2021.

Kelly, who appeared before Judge Julie Wagner in person, shuffled into the dock wearing a dull green button-down shirt, with his long hair tied in a bun low-down on the back of his head, and was flanked by two bailiffs.

He did not speak during the sentencing, merely nodding to acknowledge his name and indicate his plea of guilty.

Cleo’s mother Ellie and step-father Jake were present in the courtroom.

Missing toddler Cleo Smith, from Western Australia. Photo / West Australian Police

Four-year-old Cleo had been on a camping trip with her mother Ellie Smith, father Jake Gliddon, and little sister Isla, when they decided to stay at the Quobba Blowholes campsite, about a 50 minute drive north of their hometown of Carnarvon, on the night of October 16.

Some time early the following morning, as the family slept, Kelly crept into their tent and made off with the young girl.

• Cleo Smith abduction: Who is the mystery woman?
• Cleo Smith abduction: Cousin of suspect reveals details about his early years
• 'Credible sources': New lead in desperate search for missing 4-year-old

What happened next was a massive manhunt, lasting more than two weeks, as police scrambled to track down the missing girl.

Cleo Smith's parents Ellie Smith and Jake Gliddon.

Investigations eventually led officers to Kelly’s Tonkin Cres address in Carnarvon on November 3, after a terrifying 18 days for Cleo, when she was rescued in a dramatic early morning raid.

Kelly was arrested that same day, and the following evening barged into a room at Carnarvon Police Station, armed himself with a riot shield, and hit officers on the hands before he was restrained.

He pleaded guilty to that incident in January this year, and was fined $1000.

Early in March, Kelly’s ‘brother’ Ashley Bropho died while awaiting sentencing in Hakea Prison.

Kelly and Bropho aren’t biological brothers — they happened to grow up together in the same house, raised by Bropho’s grandmother, renowned Aboriginal elder Penny Walker.

Bropho, 40, was found unresponsive in his cell on the morning of March 9. A 42-year-old man was charged with murder over his death on Thursday, and was due to appear in Armadale Magistrates Court on Friday.