Couple accused of locking kids in basement, feeding them once a day for nearly 1 year

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A family member is defending a couple accused of abusing two young boys inside a Georgia house.

Police said the boys were locked in a DeKalb County basement and fed only once a day for one year.

"They're a piece of trash, that's what they are, to do that to kids," neighbor Tim Webster said about the couple, who police have identified as Tamara McGowan and Thomas Young.

The duo was arrested on allegations of physically and sexually abusing the two boys.

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Webster told WSB-TV's Nefertiti Jaquez that he cannot fathom how someone could mistreat the boys.

“Just pure scum,” Webster said. “No child deserves that, I’m sorry.”

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said the couple was arrested at a Walmart parking lot Wednesday and that they abused the two victims for nearly a year.

Court documents obtained by Jaquez say McGowan and Young allegedly locked the boys in the basement of their home along North Hairston Road for hours, only feeding them noodles once a day for about 11 months from June 2017 to April 2018.

When Jaquez went to the home to try to get some answers, the homeowner said his nephew is innocent and pointed the finger at McGowan and the victims.

“Listen to me, those kids are bad, those boys,” said Young’s uncle, Arthur Lee Dyers.

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“Sir, with all due respect, this is about child abuse,” Jaquez said to Dyers.

“Child abuse? What did he do?” Dyers answered, calling the allegations a lie.

He added: "They’ve never been in my basement."

Investigators also alleged that the duo exposed the kids to drug use and sexual activity, and attempted to have the children participate.

They’re both charged with first-degree child cruelty for depriving necessary sustenance, first-degree child cruelty for excessive physical or mental pain and second-degree child cruelty for excessive physical or mental pain, according to DeKalb County Jail records.

Young faces an additional charge of criminal attempted sodomy, and McGowan faces simple assault charges, jail records show. They were both denied bond.

– The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this article.

Cox Media Group