By Zach Hope and Amilia Rosa
Singapore/Bali: The estranged Balinese wife of Essendon premiership player Ricky Olarenshaw has been sentenced to jail after a judge found her guilty of allowing lewd acts to be performed inside a Seminyak massage parlour.
In a bad day for purveyors and partakers in Bali’s raunchy massage scene, 11 people from two parlours were found guilty on pornography charges in separate cases, including Australians Michael Jerome Le Grand and Lynley Le Grand, who owned a parlour in Kuta called Pink Palace.
Former AFL player Ricky Olarenshaw and his wife Sarnanitha, or Nitha.Credit: Facebook
Olarenshaw’s wife, Ni Ketut Sri Astari Sarnanitha, or Nitha, was sentenced to seven months’ jail for her role in Flame Spa Bali, which was shut down in September after a police raid.
Nitha consistently denied her involvement in the operations, claiming her ownership of the business was on paper only. She claimed she was used by her husband and his three Australian business partners to get around Indonesian foreign investment laws.
“Nitha was not involved in the operation and had no knowledge of what was happening,” her lawyer Gde Manik Yogiartha said.
Nitha (centre) consulting with her lawyer before accepting her sentence on Thursday.Credit: Amilia Rosa
Despite Nitha’s claims against the men, police initially chose not to attempt to question them. Investigators later changed their minds, but have been unable to locate them. This masthead understands police have contacted the Australian consulate in Denpasar for assistance.
Olarenshaw is believed to have returned to Australia before the raid on Flame Spa, leaving the couple’s child in the care of Nitha’s family in Bali. Nitha has been in custody since early October. With time served, she should be free by the end of next month.
“I hope the experience will be a lesson for other Indonesian women, especially in Bali, not to repeat the same mistake,” she wrote to the judge during hearings.
“I also felt a moral obligation to the other defendants and their families.”
Leaving court amid a media scrum on Thursday, she said: “I just want to see my kids.”
Olarenshaw and his wife Nitha in 2023.Credit: Facebook
While police accused Flame Spa and Pink Palace of offering sex acts, the defendants from both business were only found guilty of the lesser crime of providing pornography services.
Nitha was the 99 per cent owner of Flame Spa. Another Indonesian woman, Ni Made Purnami Sari, owned the remaining 1 per cent. Purnami was sentenced to seven months in jail.
Olarenshaw and his three Australian business partners, named in court as Gregory Campbell Hinchliffe, Darren J Olarenshaw and Adam John Dalby, have not been charged with any offence. They have not been reachable for comment.
The Le Grands were also sentenced to seven months in jail in the separate case. The couple accepted their sentences without challenge. Like Nitha and Purnami, they should be free in weeks because of time already spent in custody.
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