Quincy Timberlake jailed for 11 years by Australian court over son’s death

Controversial Kenyan preacher and former presidential candidate Quincy Timberlake was on Friday handed an 11-year prison sentence in Australia after pleading guilty to charges of manslaughter in the tragic loss of his son Sinclair.

Justice Paul Freeburn, in his ruling, termed the death of the three-year-old as “brutal and incomprehensible.”

Timberlake, the spouse of former TV personality Esther Arunga, owned up to the crime two weeks ago on September 13.

The court heard that the accused struck the young boy forcefully on the stomach, causing him to stumble, allegedly because the minor was possessed by a devil that resided within his abdomen, thereby justifying his actions as an attempt to cast out the malevolent entity.

Despite the valiant efforts of paramedics, Sinclair lost his life.

The confession came in August, when Timberlake, aiming for a lighter sentence, struck a plea deal with the prosecution.

The legal proceedings took a turn when Timberlake's guilty plea for manslaughter was accepted by the prosecution, leading to the withdrawal of the murder charge, and prompting the cancellation of the scheduled judge-only trial.

Esther Timberlake was previously convicted of being an accessory to her son's manslaughter after she attempted to mislead the authorities about what had transpired by failing to state that Timberlake punched the boy.

The court said the couple omitted crucial details of the incident from their initial account to the police where the accused said his son had fallen on the stairs.

The judge sentenced Timberlake on the basis that he punched his son intending to cause grievous bodily harm, but that at the time he was of diminished responsibility. 

His pretrial records show that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and psychosis, and that he forcefully struck their son leading to his untimely demise.

Judge Freeburn cleared him eligible for parole upon serving nine years, however, stating that matter is left entirely to the parole board.