Images of Flowers were published on social media by WA locals wrongly identifying him as the abductor, which was then picked up by the Seven Network.
Speaking with Ngaarda Media, Terrance Flowers reveals he plans to sue 7 News after they published images of him, identifying him as the abductor of Carnarvon four-year-old Cleo Smith.
Sharing the same name as the alleged abductor only on Facebook, Terry Kelly, Flowers has been the subject of online harassment because of the accusation.
After visiting the local police station about his images being posted on social media, Flowers said he became distressed when finding out Seven had wrongly picked up the story.
“I had a panic attack in the police station so they brought me into the hospital.”
Flowers has engaged with O’Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitors, who represented the Yolngu Aboriginal community when they sued Sunrise in 2019 for using images as a backdrop for Aboriginal children affairs.
Flowers said:
“I want not just to get an apology from them, I want them to do their jobs more seriously and professionally.”
Seven removed the post from their social media, and issued an apology for wrongly sharing the images of Flowers. It read:
“Earlier on Wednesday 7NEWS wrongly showed images of a man that were incorrectly labelled as the person under arrest over disappearance of Cleo Smith.
“These were removed promptly, but 7NEWS apologises for the error.”
Flowers has since received thousands of message of support because of the wrong accusations, wishing him and his family well.
