Ex-Tech Star, Wife, Indicted on Child Cruelty Charges

Former Georgia Tech football star Recardo Wimbush and his wife, who are accused of locking their son in a small basement room for most of the past two years, have been officially indicted on cruelty charges in Gwinnett County.

The AJC reported a Gwinnett grand jury indicted Recardo and Therian Wimbush on two counts of first-degree cruelty to children on Sept. 4.

The couple was arrested in June for keeping the teen — the oldest of the couple’s 10 children — in a small locked room at their Buford, Ga., residence with just a mattress and box springs, and a plastic bucket apparently used as a toilet.

Police said searches of the couple’s home on Pierce Way in Buford found the room had a hardwood floor, only a fitted sheet on the mattress and no bulb in the light fixture. The window was painted white, allowing some light into the room during the day.

The couple reportedly wanted to keep the oldest child away from his other siblings.

The couple, who said religious beliefs were behind the alleged abuse, has been in the Gwinnett County Jail since their arrest. They were denied bond last month.

Wimbush was a four-year starter at linebacker for Georgia Tech from 1999-2002, according the school’s athletics department website. Wimbush was on the Atlanta Falcons training camp roster at one point.

>>Read more on the AJC

(Photo: Recardo and Therian Wimbush. Gwinnett County Jail mug shots)