Quincy Timberlake pleads guilty to manslaughter of son in Australia home

Former presidential candidate Quincy Timberlake has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his son, Sinclair Timberlake.

Australian prosecutors on Tuesday dropped murder charges against Timberlake, who was accused of killing his three-year-old son in 2014. Timberlake is the husband of former television presenter Esther Arunga.

Police said the death occurred on June 18, 2014 at their home in Kallangur, north of Brisbane.

Timberlake, who controversially left Kenya, was due to stand trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court after the judge-only trial was quashed.

"He will now be sentenced on September 29, 2023 after prosecutor Caitlin Penfold accepted the guilty plea to manslaughter in the Brisbane Supreme Court," Australian media reported.

Under Australian law, manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.

It remains unclear what punishment Timberlake will face as he has been behind bars for almost a decade. It has also emerged that he suffers from psychosis and schizophrenia.

Timberlake had initially told police that his son had fallen down the stairs and was not breathing when emergency services were called to the house.

The boy died a short time later despite paramedics' efforts.

Arunga later told police her husband had punched the boy in the stomach and thrown him against a wall.

The former TV star was convicted of being an accessory, after she tried to mislead police into believing her husband had hurt her son.

It was never suggested that Arunga had harmed her son.

The case against Timberlake alleged that he murdered his three-year-old because he believed the child was possessed by aliens living in his stomach.