Maree Mavis Crabtree Convicted of Fraud but Released Due to Time Served

A Gold Coast woman, previously cleared of murdering two of her adult children, has been convicted of "sustained dishonesty" offences, including social security fraud, but will not spend any further time in custody due to time already served.

Maree Mavis Crabtree was arrested in 2018 and charged over the deaths of Jonathan Crabtree in 2017 and Erin Crabtree in 2012. She was also charged with several fraud offences, some of which were related to claims on their life insurance. Crabtree had always denied involvement in the deaths and was acquitted of her son's murder and associated fraud charges after a Supreme Court trial earlier this year. A month later, prosecutors dropped the remaining murder charge and several fraud offences relating to her daughter.

On Tuesday, Crabtree pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court to three outstanding charges, including one count of fraud and two counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception from the commonwealth. The court heard that between 2017 and just before her arrest, she fraudulently received $12,000 in government payments for another daughter who was no longer in her care. Between 2010 and 2015, she also fraudulently received $140,000 from a New South Wales support service.

Crown prosecutor Zachary Kaplan told the court, "[Crabtree] was reimbursing things to fund her lifestyle," "In relation to the fraud offence, she repeatedly lied to the organisation and told them she was still living in Muswellbrook when she had moved to Queensland."

The court heard Crabtree had a limited and dated criminal history, but it was relevant offending. In 1999, the court heard she was sentenced for making false representations to Sutherland police, about crimes being committed against her which had been fabricated. She was also sentenced in 2010 for stealing cattle in Muswellbrook.

Her lawyer Amelia Anderson told the court her client had spent six years in pre-sentence custody which was "quite an onerous" period for her. "She has had to deal with being charged with the murder of her other two children and grieve their loss while she's been in custody," she said.

Judge David Kent told the court her offending was serious and involved "sustained dishonesty". He said Crabtree had "kept up this facade" in order to receive benefits she knew she was not entitled to. "In relation to the state [fraud] charge at least, there was deliberate misrepresentations," he said. "You took steps to maintain the false address provided."

Crabtree was sentenced to one month each for the commonwealth charges, to be served concurrently, and ordered to repay the $12,000. For the fraud, she was convicted but not further punished. With time already served taken into consideration, Crabtree was free to leave court.