Dashcam Footage Shows Moment Police Arrest Cleo Smith's Abductor

Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, who kidnapped 4-year-old Cleo Smith has been charged with multiple offences including forcibly taking a child under 16, and appeared in Carnarvon Magistrate's Court on Thursday barefoot and wearing a T-shirt.

A massive state-wide investigation over 18 days eventually led detectives to a Tonkin Crescent home in Carnarvon where Cleo was found alone, with police reportedly having waited for Kelly to leave before they swooped.

Kelly was bundled out of a car and placed in handcuffs shortly after the raid at 11:30pm on Tuesday, with grainy taxi footage revealing for the first time the moment he was arrested.

The state's top cop said the unlikely rescue, brought about by tireless detective work, will go down as one of the proudest moments in WA police history.