Posted: 7:02 p.m. Friday, June 27, 2014
Former Georgia Tech star surrenders on Gwinnett child cruelty charge
By Steve Visser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Wimbushes seemed like a large and loving family with quirky religious beliefs to neighbors before they disappeared from sight a few days ago.
Thats when Gwinnett Police issued arrest warrants for cruelty to children, contending the parents kept their 13-year-old son locked in a basement room for two years in a bizarre case in which the image of the family seemed at odds with the charges.
I dont think anyone in the neighborhood knew them well, but the kids would be outside playing, they seemed happy, said Pamela Harris. When you did see them, they would be all together. The parents would be with them.
The father Recardo Wimbush surrendered to the Gwinnett County jail around 7 p.m. Friday, according Deputy S. Volkodav, spokeswoman for the Gwinnett sheriff . The mother, Therian Wimbush, was expected to follow shortly to also be booked into jail on charges of cruelty to children and false imprisonment.
The Buford couple has 10 children, three of which they had when married during their Georgia Tech days where Recardo was a football star and team captain in 2002; Therian was a tutor and earned duel degrees from Spelman College and Tech.
Recardo, 33, and Therian, 37, told investigators they had locked their 13-year-old son in a room in the basement for disciplinary reasons, said Cpl. Jake Smith, spokesman for Gwinnett Police.
Another neighbor described them as a private but friendly family whose children always displayed good manners and were always well-kept. She worried how kids were doing in state custody because the family seemed so tight-knit.
Ashley Fielding, spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, said privacy laws prohibit disclosing whether it has had previous contract with the Wimbush family unless a child suffers death or serious physical injury.
The Wimbushes told a judge at a June 19 family court hearing the 13-year-old was a threat to their other children. The boy said he was being punished for taking the family DVD player and lying about it.
The parents only allowed (the boy) to step outside the bedroom two or three times day to eat, use the bathrood and brush his teeth occasionally. (The boy) was not allowed upstairs and had not seen his siblings in a year.
Attempts to reach the Wimbushes or their lawyers for comment were unsuccessful. An undated family website shows deeply religious parents seemingly devoted to their flock of happy smiling kids and to their religion and Yah, a derivative of Yahweh.
Harris said the family appeared to be deeply immersed in its esoteric religion, noting it didnt celebrate Halloween and handed out Bibles instead of candy to trick or treaters. The family seemed dedicated to the command to be fruitful and multiply.
When she moved in, she asked me how many kids did I have and I said two, Harris said. And she asked, How many more are you going to have? And I said, None, were done. She said, I m having as many as God grants me.
