A 36-year-old stepfather was found guilty of multiple counts of child abuse and false imprisonment after a waitress noticed bruises from a child who was being deprived of food during a restaurant visit.
Timothy Lee Wilson, who was arrested by Orlando Police in February 2021, was found guilty by a six-person jury in Orange County nearly 18 months after a waitress at a local restaurant made a sign asking an 11-year-old child if he needed help.
According to authorities, on January 1, 2021, at around 11 p.m., Wilson’s family of four entered the Mrs. Potato restaurant at 4550 S Kirkman Road. A waitress at the restaurant noticed that an 11-year-old victim was secluded from the rest of the family and was being deprived of food and beverages.
After the waitress noticed injuries on the victim, she held up a sign asking him if he needed help and the victim acknowledged that he did.
An investigation into the matter revealed that Wilson was the victim’s stepfather.
According to court records, the victim was tortured, maliciously punished, and deprived of food and water for days at a time. A search warrant revealed that the child was being kept in a separate hotel room used for storage, away from Wilson, the child’s mother, and the child’s younger sibling.
The peep hole to the child’s room was covered with duct tape and he was made to do military-style exercises, hang upside down from a door by his neck and feet, and, at one point, was handcuffed to a dolly cart on Christmas Day.
Multiple items that were used to hurt or keep the child tied up were recovered including a bent metal pole, a wooden broom, a dolly cart, handcuffs, and ratchet straps.
After two hours of deliberation last week, the jury found Wilson guilty of two counts of false imprisonment of a child under the age of 13, three counts of aggravated child abuse with a weapon, four counts of aggravated child abuse, and one count of child neglect. He will be sentenced on Friday, August 19, at 10:30 am., according to court records.