ORLANDO, Fla — The stepfather of a boy who was recused by an Orlando waitress after noticing his bruises was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
A jury convicted Timothy Wilson, 36, on 10 counts of false imprisonment, child abuse and child neglect, Fox 35 in Orlando reports.
The rescued happened when waitress Flavaine Carvalho was working at an Orlando restaurant on New Year's Day in 2021, the news outlet explains. She saw a family withholding food from an 11-year-old boy at one of the tables.
Officers say she saw bruises on his body and decided to take action.
The woman created a sign to secretly ask if the boy if he needed help, according to police. When the boy signaled "yes," officers say she called the police.
During the investigation, authorities learned the boy was "tortured, maliciously punished and deprived of food and water for days at a time," Fox 35 reports the State Attorney's Office said in a news release.
He was kept in a storage room away from his mom and sibling, forced to do military-style exercises and hung upside down by his neck and feet from a door, the outlet stated.
Circuit Judge Wayne Wooten sentenced Wilson to “a mix of life sentences and 30-year sentences running concurrently," said Julio Semino, a court administration spokesperson for the Ninth Judicial Circuit, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The boy's 32-year-old mother, Kristen Swann, admitted to police that she knew about the abuse; however, did not seek medical attention for the child.
She was also arrested and charged with child neglect, aggravated child abuse, and failure to report child abuse. Her sentencing date is set for Sept. 16.
