This archive report was first published on 18 July 2019.
On July 18, 2019, an Australian court handed down a 10-month jail sentence to former KTN TV anchor Esther Arunga, who had pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the murder of her son in 2014. However, she was immediately freed on parole.
Arunga's son, Sinclair Timberlake, died in 2014 due to blunt force trauma to his abdomen. She initially lied to the police to protect her husband, Quincy Timberlake, from punishment. Later, she changed her story and implicated her husband in the death of their son.
Quincy Timberlake was subsequently charged with the murder of their son. According to reports, on the night of June 17, 2014, Arunga told the police that she found her husband hitting their baby in the stomach and throwing him against the wall.
During the sentencing, Justice Martin Burn expressed sympathy for Arunga's situation, stating that she must have been in shock and grieving at the time of her interviews with the police.
Arunga's cultural beliefs and her suffering over the past five years were also taken into consideration by the court. She was granted parole in Western Australia, which requires prisoners to comply with prison rules and demonstrate a commitment to maintaining a positive lifestyle.
