Mom of ‘Peter Boy’ faces probation in son’s death

Jaylin Kema, mother of missing “Peter Boy” Kema, is scheduled to be sentenced to probation today in Circuit Court in Hilo after pleading guilty to manslaughter in her son’s death.

Kema faces 10 years of probation in Peter Boy’s death and five years of probation for second-degree theft in connection with a welfare fraud case.

But if Kema should violate the terms of her probation, “It’s possible that she could get 20 (years for manslaughter) and another five for the theft,” Hawaii County Prosecutor Mitch Roth said. “And it’s possible those (sentences) could run consecutive if she messes up.”

Kema’s court-appointed lawyer, Brian De Lima, said she is getting credit for time served under the terms of the plea agreement.

Kema and her husband, Peter Kema Sr., were charged with second-degree murder after they were indicted by a Hilo grand jury in April 2016 — about 19 years after Peter Boy’s disappearance in 1997.

The disappearance of “Peter Boy” Kema, then 6, was initially a missing-person case, but in 2000 police reclassified it as a homicide.

Prosecutors also said Jaylin Kema collected more than $17,000 in public-assistance benefits she wasn’t entitled to between May 2010 and July 2015. The theft was uncovered because of the murder investigation, prosecutors had said.

Peter Kema Sr. faces the possibility of life in prison without parole after pleading guilty.

His sentencing hearing — originally scheduled for last week — was postponed because authorities are still searching for Peter Boy’s remains.

Kema pleaded guilty in exchange for a 20-year sentence, on the condition that he reveal the location of the remains. If the remains can’t be found, Kema must take a polygraph test.

He is now scheduled to be sentenced July 24.