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Police used this photo to search for four-year-old Cleo
Photo: WESTERN AUSTRALIAN POLICE FORCE / AFP
In Australia, the kidnapper of four-year-old Cleo Smith has pleaded guilty to child kidnapping charges.
Other charges were initially dismissed, including an allegation of assaulting a police officer.
The 36-year-old man is accused of kidnapping four-year-old Cleo from her family's tent at a campsite in Western Australia in October.
After 18 days, police discovered the girl alone in a house in the coastal town of Carnarvon.
Officers broke down the door of the locked house and found the girl in one of the rooms.
"One of the cops picked her up and asked, 'What's your name?' She said, 'My name is Cleo.'" The suspect was arrested nearby.
36-year-old remains in custody
At the court hearing, the accused was connected via video from prison.
All he said to the charge of child abduction was "guilty."
The 36-year-old remains in custody until the next court hearing in March.
Observers expect that details of Cleo's kidnapping will then also play a role.
The date for the pronouncement of judgment could also be set.
The disappearance of little Cleo kept Australia in suspense for days and also caused a stir internationally.
The police assume that the girl was abducted unplanned and spontaneously.
The 36-year-old therefore had no connection to Cleo's family and acted alone.
bam/AFP