Police have charged a Western Australian man over the abduction of four-year-old Cleo Smith.
Cleo Smith after her rescue. Photo: Western Australian Police
Terence Darrell Kelly did not apply for bail and was not required to enter a plea when he faced Carnarvon Magistrate's Court this afternoon.
The 36-year-old took a while to acknowledge his name and expressed anger with the media presence as he was flanked by two police officers.
He nodded to indicate he understood the charges, which included one count of forcibly taking a child under 16, commonly referred to as child stealing.
Kelly was barefoot, wore a black shirt and his curly hair out.
He did not show much emotion, other than appearing agitated with the presence of two ABC journalists.
At one point he looked over at the journalists and swore, saying: 'Why are they here?'
He was remanded in custody until 6 December.
Police have had Kelly in custody for the past two days, since officers broke into the state housing commission house he was living in and found Cleo in a bedroom playing with toys in the early hours of Wednesday morning, 18 days after her family reported her missing from the Blowholes campsite.
Kelly was not in the house at the time but was arrested on a nearby street.
There were four detectives in court today, including Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine, the officer who found Cleo inside the house.
Senior Sergeant Blaine spoke briefly outside the Carnarvon Courthouse following Kelly's appearance.
He told reporters it felt good to have the accused appear before a magistrate.
"It's obviously a combination of lots of hard work and that's what we've been here for, so yeah it's fantastic," he said.
"The matter is before the court so we're not going to make any more comment at this stage."
-ABC