Woman gets three years probation for child stealing in the Bahamas
A woman kidnapped four young boys and attempted to abduct a fifth boy in 2019 was yesterday sentenced to three years’ probation.
De’Edra Gibson, who faced a potential maximum sentence of 10 years, received the sentence as part of a plea deal.
Gibson, who has a history of mental illness, will be sentenced to prison for two years if she commits an offence during the period of probation.
She is also required to attend outpatient services at the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre regularly, expected that the court receives quarterly updates on her progress. As part of her supervised release, Gibson has to report to the court twice a year. Her first report date is January 20, 2022.
Gibson, 31, pleaded guilty on Tuesday morning to four counts of child stealing and one count of attempted child stealing before Senior Justice Bernard Turner.
The prosecutor, Destiny McKinney, told the court that Gibson snatched an eight-year-old boy from in front of his home on February 6, 2019. She dropped the child off at the Sunrise Laundromat on Joe Farrington Road the following day.
Gibson struck again a few weeks later. On March 6, she lured an eight-year-old boy who was playing basketball into her car. She drove to the city dump and told him to get out of the car.
On March 29, Gibson picked up an eight-year-old boy from Lumumba Lane and dropped him at the dump.
While on bail for those offences, Gibson attempted to abduct a seven-year-old student of Sandilands Primary School as he walked to school with his uncle.
Gibson had the boy partly in her vehicle, but his uncle was able to wrest him away.
An emotional Gibson thanked the court and her lawyer Uel Johnson.
“Hopefully, these three years go by quickly, and I won’t provoke to get into any other situations,” she said.
Turner told Gibson, “You have to govern your actions. Someone may act, but it’s up to you to react.”
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