Leeanne Chrysilla Eatts sentenced in Townsville Supreme Court for manslaughter following drownings of her two sons in Ross River

A Townsville mum has learnt her fate following the tragic deaths of her two young boys who died in the Ross River after being left unsupervised for more than an hour.

Leeanne Chrysilla Eatts sentenced in Townsville Supreme Court for manslaughter after her two sons Barak Brian Austral, 5, (left) and Jhulio Maximus Arturo Sariago, 3 (right)drowned in the Ross River in February 2019.

A Townsville judge has labelled the actions of a mum found guilty over the death of her two sons in the Ross River as a “gross failure” in care.

Justice David North has sentenced Leeanne Chrysilla Eatts to eight years prison and said the mother did not harbour genuine remorse over the deaths of Barak Brian Austral, 5, and Jhulio Maximus Arturo Sariago, 3. 

Almost nine months ago the mother was found guilty of their deaths after they drowned in the Ross River on February 25, 2019 - their deaths devastated the community.

Justice North said the mother’s criminal offences had two aggravating features which included, the boys were “defenceless and vulnerable” and described it as a domestic violence offence.

“Your plea of ‘not guilty’ and spirited contest of the facts at the trial, suggests you do not harbour genuine remorse for your actions, however there is no doubt you were distressed and sorry for your predicament,” he said.

“Yours was a gross failure of the obligation to take care and supervise the children, you knew they had been in the past to the river unsupervised.”

Crown prosecutor David Nardone repeated the tragic facts leading up to the boys’ deaths in court.

“(Eatts) left them unsupervised for one hour and 19 minutes, while she was unaware or unconcerned of the whereabouts of her children,” he said.

“They wandered from their yards to the banks of the recently flooded Ross River where each boy drowned.”

The banks, the court was told, was 89 metres from the family’s Brett St, Cranbrook home and the bodies of the children were found 188 metres from the residence.

Flowers have been laid for Barak Austral, 5, and Jhulio Sariago, 3, who were found dead in Ross River on Tuesday, February 26, 2019. Picture: Madura McCormack

“Her first impulse was to send her then 10-year-old to search for the boys,” the crown said.

Mr Nardone said it was 30 minutes from sending her older child out to look that she went to search herself, with police only being contacted three hours after her realisation they had disappeared from the yard – however the crown did not discredit the extended family’s search efforts for the boys in the lead up to emergency services assistance.

“The boys were sadly not found until early the following morning, where they were found near one another in the mouth of the creek,” Mr Nardone said.

Following the boys’ deaths, police began investigations into the mother and found Eatts was guilty of supplying marijuana to a minor, was in possession of 14 foil packages of marijuana and texts sent by the woman to someone asking if they were “chasing”, which the crown suggested had an element of commerciality to it.

“That conduct reflects a miserable failure as a parent,” Mr Nardone said.

He discussed findings in a psychological report that was submitted to the court and the lack of accountability held by Eatts when it came to her sons’ deaths.

“It does not demonstrate she developed insight into her criminality, as she harbours blame towards witnesses for the loss of her children who she claims did nothing to assist them,” Mr Nardone said.

Barak Austral, 5, and Jhulio Sariago, 3.

Defence barrister Harvey Walters, instructed by Rennick Lawyers, advised the court to hold no weight in regards to the drug-related offences when sentencing the woman for manslaughter.

He emphasised that the sentence, and the children’s ultimate death was due to being unsupervised and not a lack of care for them.

“The children were loved, they were clean, well dressed, well-nourished, the five-year-old was attending school on a regular basis,” Mr Walters said.

“She accepts she should’ve offered more supervision and kept an eye on them and checked on them more often.

“This is of course a great deal of grief. When she initially spent time in the watch house, she was told she was a ‘child killer’ … that’s had a significant impact on her.”

He told the court there was no suggestion she was impacted by drugs or alcohol on the day of her children’s deaths, and tragically shared the news that while on bail, a third son passed away in a vehicle accident in the Northern Territory.

Mr Walters shared that since their deaths, the father of her children had expressed his forgiveness towards the woman.

“He continues, for the purposes of the children, to have contact with her and deal with her in a forgiving and civil way,” the lawyer said.

“She has significant support when she is released from custody.”

Smoking Ceremony and Memorial held for Barak Austral 5 and Jhulio Sariago 3, the two boys who drowned in the Ross River. Mother Leeanne Eatts. Picture: Alix Sweeney

The trial was held last year and went for eight days where a jury was told by crown prosecutor Mr Nardone that the case against Eatts centred on her omission in failing to supervise the children adequately rather than any action she had taken.

He reiterated some of the 30 witnesses’ evidence provided in the trial and said they talked about the “limited supervision” the boys had.

“The boys were almost never supervised, playing in the yard, the street, the gates to the yard open, witnesses had to stop their cars while driving to avoid hitting the boys playing on the street,” he said.

He said that during the trial, witnesses shared they would see the boys out until 7pm-8pm at night alone.

Eatts pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, three counts of supplying drugs to a minor and one count of possessing drugs.

She was sentenced to eight years’ jail, with a parole eligibility date of December 16, 2026 with the 363 days spent in pre-sentence custody declared as time served.

There were multiple delays to sentencing, she has been in Townsville Women’s Correctional Centre since she was found guilty at trial.

Originally published as Leeanne Chrysilla Eatts sentenced in Townsville Supreme Court for manslaughter following drownings of her two sons in Ross River