Former Kenyan TV presenter Esther Arunga will not serve jail term despite being convicted of being an accessory after the fact to the manslaughter of her son.
According to the Australian Associated Press, the 38-year-old was sentenced to ten months in prison but immediately released on parole.
“Parole is where a person is released from prison, subject to certain conditions….During a parole period an offender is allowed to serve the remainder of their prison sentence in the community, subject to conditions,” the Australian Attorney General’s Department says.
The conditions include appearing at the parole officer’s station as per the number of days ordered by the court and getting consent from the parole officer on where to live and where to work.
Other conditions include informing the same officer whenever the offender changes jobs or accommodation as well as seeking his or her approval to travel overseas.
During the hearings, the Brisbane Supreme Court had been told how Arunga misled police after her three-year-old son died in 2014.
She had called emergency services claiming that Sinclair had fallen down the stairs.
The court was also told how her husband Quincy Timberlake had grabbed a Bible and told the medics that there was ‘a devil’ in his son’s stomach.
26 days later, Arunga changed her story and told detectives that it was her husband who had punched their son in the stomach.
” (He) was sitting on my son, he was sitting on his stomach”, ABC News quoted her.
Officers from the emergency services also testified of the gruesome scene they found Sinclair’s body when they arrived at couple’s home in Kallangur, Brisbane.
According to ABC News, the Prosecutor further faulted Arunga for delaying investigations:
“Prosecutor Danny Boyle said Mr Timberlake “was always a person of interest and her conduct delayed the detection and apprehension of him”.
He added that in other interviews, Arunga “alleged that her parents had beaten and tried to kill Sinclair”.
Arunga was charged on September 11, 2014 of being an accessory after the fact to the manslaughter of her son.
Her husband Quincy Zuma Wambitta Timberlake, who Australian media refer to as a ‘former Kenyan presidential candidate’ had earlier been charged with the murder of his son.
He was placed in police custody as a report in the Guardian newspaper later revealed that the deceased child also had marks consistent with physical abuse.
An autopsy report said Sinclair had burn marks on his face from an iron box.
Authorities believe that the boy could have been subjected to the abuse in Australia as photographs of him when they arrive did not show any such mark.
Arunga and Quincy however alleged that the boy had been tortured in Kenya and in Dubai.
Arunga later changed her name to Chryslertte Provydence Timberlake.
According to the Brisbane Times, Quincy admitted himself to Brisbane’s Prince Charles Mental Health hospital on July 3, 2014 but one week later, he was made an involuntary patient.
It remains unclear as to whether he is still at the mental hospital.