Son Locked in Basement for Nearly 2 Years: Parents Sentenced Monday

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA — A former Georgia Tech football player and his wife were sentenced to 20 years in prison Monday on child cruelty charges.

Recardo and Therian Wimbush, of Buford, were accused of locking one of their 10 children in the basement for almost two years as a punishment and for refusing to seek medical treatment for a younger son who had a malignant skin tumor.

Recardo, 35, and Therian, 39, were found guilty on three counts of second-degree child cruelty. They were acquitted of other charges, including the more severe first-degree child cruelty.

The two will serve another 10 years on probation under their sentences, handed down by Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Deborah Fluker on Monday.

They will be barred from seeing the two children they were convicted of abusing, now 16 and 10, until they are 21 years old and will be permitted only supervised visits with their other children until they are 18.

The couple, who represented themselves during their trial, were indicted in 2014, accused of keeping the then-13-year-old boy — the eldest of their 10 children — in a small locked room 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 boy away from his siblings, saying that he had molested three of his sisters.

They have defended their actions in the case on religious grounds. They also said during trial that it was their oldest son's own idea to be punished by being locked in the basement.

Some of the Wimbush's children now live in foster care, while others are in the care of extended family members.

Recardo Wimbush was a four-year starter at linebacker for Georgia Tech from 1999-2002 and was on the Atlanta Falcons roster at one point.

Photo via Gwinnett County Jail