A former Georgia Tech football star and his wife, both in jail on child abuse charges in Gwinnett County, agreed Wednesday not to seek custody — for now — of their 10 children, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Recardo and Therian Wimbush have been locked up without bond since June after being arrested on charges of punishing their oldest child by keeping him locked up in the basement for months. They said they were disciplining their child in line with their religious beliefs and insist that state authorities are exaggerating or mischaracterizing the conditions in which he was kept.
An attorney appointed by the court to represent the Wimbush children in the custody proceedings disagreed.
“This is not a freedom of religion case, this is a case about a child who was tortured and subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by his parents,” LeAnne Chancey told Channel 2.
The couple returns to juvenile court Thursday for the hearing, which will now determine whether the children will go to foster care or to a relative, the TV station reported.
The case shocked metro Atlanta and Georgia Tech fans when the Wimbushes were arrested in June. Recardo, then 33, had been a linebacker captain of the football team during his 2002 senior season, was well remembered by teammates and was a supervisor in a railroad yard. Therian Wimbush, then 37, who earned duel degrees from Tech and Spelman, did private tutoring. They got married in college and started their large family. The teenager was one of three children they had while at Tech.
Police contend they kept their son locked up in the basement for two years. The room had a jar for urination and a mattress. The boy was found in relatively good health and told authorities he deserved the punishment for taking family property.
Two judges denied the Wimbushes requests for bail on the grounds the couple may influence the testimony of their children, who are now in the custody of the state Division of Children and Family Services. Superior Court Judge Karen Beyers described the testimony against the Wimbushes in magistrate court as "chilling."
The Buford couple was charged with malicious and intentional cruelty to children and false imprisonment.
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