Woman sentenced for fleeing with son

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. – A Bainbridge Island woman who hid out in New Zealand for three years with her young son in a custody dispute was sentenced Wednesday to six months in jail.

With credit for time served, Juliette C. Gilbert, 37, will likely spend about three more months behind bars after pleading guilty to custodial interference.

She was sentenced by Kitsap County Superior Court Judge M. Karlynn Haberly.

Gilbert surfaced in New Zealand earlier this year, but then vanished again. She was on the FBI’s most wanted list, and eventually was arrested in April and returned to the United States, along with her son, Sky, who is now 9.

Gilbert and her son vanished when Gilbert and her ex-husband, Robby Gilbert, were divorced and sharing custody.

In a statement to the court, Gilbert said her relationship with her ex-husband was stressful to the point she felt she had to flee.

James Province, a lawyer representing Robby Gilbert, said after the hearing that Robby Gilbert disputed any allegations that he did anything abusive, but that when the time is right, he would not object to Sky again seeing his mother.