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An Orange County stepfather has been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of child abuse.

On Friday, Timothy Lee Wilson was ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars for the abuse of a child who was rescued by an Orange County waitress.

In 2021, Orlando police said Flaviane Carvalho, a manager at Mrs. Potato Restaurant, noticed bruises on an 11-year-old boy and then secretly flashed him a handwritten note asking him if he needed help. The boy nodded yes, and Carvalho called the police.

The child was hospitalized, and medical staff found the boy was covered in bruises and underweight.

Investigators later learned that the boy's stepfather, 36-year-old Wilson, had tortured the child and deprived him of food and water for days at a time.

Officials said the boy was isolated, starved, made to do military-style exercises, hung upside down from a door, and handcuffed to a dolly cart on Christmas Day.

"Officers recovered multiple items used as weapons—a bent metal pole, a wooden broom, a dolly cart, handcuffs, and ratchet straps used to tie the victim up," a news release said.

As for the boy's mother, Kristen Swann, police said she admitted to knowing about the abuse and failing to seek medical care for the boy. She was arrested and charged with two counts of child neglect.

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