A West Australian detective who made global headlines after rescuing kidnapped child Cleo Smith has resigned from police force ahead of a corruption report.

October 25, 2023

A detective who made news headlines around the globe after rescuing kidnapped child Cleo Smith has resigned from the West Australian police force ahead of a corruption report.

Detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Blaine was among the officers who found the four-year-old at abductor Terence Kelly’s outback home in November 3, 2021.

He shot to fame when footage of him asking Cleo her name 18 days after she went missing  – to which she responded: “My name is Cleo” – went viral.

The dramatic rescue was hailed as a miracle, with Det Blaine telling reporters it was “without a doubt” the best moment of his career.

But after being praised for his central role in reuniting Cleo with her family, Det Blaine was accused of misconduct and stood down in September last year amid a Corruption and Crime Commission investigation.

It is understood the CCC report into his conduct will be tabled in WA parliament in the coming days.

A WA Police spokeswoman on Wednesday confirmed to AAP that Det Blaine’s resignation had been accepted.

Cleo was taken on October 16, 2021 from the remote Blowholes campsite, 75km north of the town of Carnarvon, where she was later found.

Kelly had gone to the campsite, 960km north of Perth, looking for items to steal but made the opportunistic decision to take Cleo, whose parents were sleeping nearby.

Her disappearance sparked a major police investigation which eventually led detectives to Kelly’s property, which was just minutes from Cleo’s family home.

Officers forced entry and found her alone in a room, physically unharmed and playing with toys.

Kelly later admitted abducting the girl while high on methamphetamine and was sentenced to at least 11-and-a-half years behind bars.