Catoosa County Couple Sentenced to 20 Years Each for Extreme Child Cruelty

A Catoosa County couple was convicted by a jury on March 27, 2025, of two counts of Cruelty to Children in the 1st Degree and two counts of Cruelty to Children in the 2nd Degree. Following the verdict, each defendant received a sentence of twenty years in prison. Due to the age of the teenage victims, the District Attorney’s Office will not release the names of the defendants.

The charges against the couple stemmed from a joint investigation initiated in December 2023 by the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Office, the Catoosa County Division of Family and Children Services, and Catoosa County Codes Enforcement. The investigation revealed that the couple subjected their teenage children to deplorable living conditions in their mobile home, which lacked adequate heat, hot water, and had running water only in the bathtub. Evidence presented at trial showed the residence was in a state of disrepair and extreme filth, leading Codes Enforcement to deem it uninhabitable. Despite the father’s testimony of earning a substantial weekly income as an electrician, the children lived in squalor.

Adding to the neglect, the couple repeatedly punished their teenage children by shooting them with Airsoft guns. They also severely restricted their daughter’s food intake and padlocked the refrigerator to prevent her from accessing food.

Further disturbing details revealed that the couple’s daughter was also molested by her older half-brother, who coerced her into sexual acts in exchange for food. The parents were aware of the molestation and routinely left their daughter alone with her half-brother on a weekly basis while they stayed at another property they owned. The half-brother has since been sentenced to life in prison with twenty-five years to serve.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Beth Evans and Assistant District Attorney David Wolfe prosecuted the case, with support from a dedicated team of victim advocates, investigators, and administrative assistants.

District Attorney Clayton M. Fuller commented on the case, stating, “Parents should be the first in line to protect children, but if they fail, we will step into that breach of our most basic foundations of our community. The wickedness of a parent who treats their own flesh and blood with such cruelty and neglect will be met here in Northwest Georgia with the full force of justice.”