This archive report was first published on 20 July 2019.
On July 18, 2019, Esther Arunga, a former KTN anchor, was sentenced to a 10-month jail term over the death of her three-year-old son Sinclair Timberlake. However, she was immediately freed on parole, paving the way for her reunion with her two daughters.
Arunga had lost custody of her daughters after Sinclair's death, and they were placed in foster care. The Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Martin Burns acknowledged that Arunga had suffered greatly due to the tragic events.
Justice Burns noted that Arunga's cultural beliefs initially led her to mislead police, but he also recognized that she was in shock and grieving at the time of her interviews. He stated, 'You must be taken to have been in shock at the death of your son at the times when you were interviewed … and further to be grieving at your loss.'
Arunga had pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact to manslaughter. In her confession to the police, she explained, 'I was terrified of being alone and I felt terrible because my husband was sick as well.'
Arunga's two daughters, who are Australian citizens, were finally reunited with their mother after a five-year separation.
