Loganville man who tortured his children for years, gets four life sentences for abuse, 10-year-old daughter’s death

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA – A Loganville man who raped and abused his children, and was ultimately held liable for the death of one of them, will spend the rest of his life in prison.

A Gwinnett County jury found William Linn McCue, 51, guilty of felony murder, two counts of rape, three counts of aggravated child molestation, and two counts of incest in connection with the 2022 death of his 10-year-old daughter and years of abuse of the young girl and her siblings. McCue was ordered to serve three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, followed by a fourth life sentence, then a consecutive 120 years in prison after the jury’s decision on June 11.

“The treatment of these children was horrible,” District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “This child’s death was unconscionable and preventable, and she and her siblings deserved better than they received from their parents.”

The chldren’s abuse came to light on April 17, 2022 when emergency responders were called to the McCue home in Loganville because of a house fire. Carina McCue, William McCue’s 42-year-old wife, was able to rescue her then-12- and 8-year-old sons, but was unable to reach the 10-year-old, whose “bedroom” did not have a window. The girl  was sleeping in a locked bathroom with a piece of plywood over the tub as her bed when the fire started. She died from smoke inhalation, according to the investigation.

The jury learned that McCue’s oldest son, who was 15 at the time, started the fire to escape the abuse that he and his siblings had endured.

Testimony and evidence presented during the trial revealed that, among other forms of punishment, the children were beaten, forced to wear shock collars, and were made to stand naked on cinder blocks for hours or even days at a time. They were not allowed to use the toilets.  Instead, they were forced to use buckets that were emptied once a week. They were never enrolled in school or homeschooled, investigators found.  Evidence showed that the children flourished once they were away from their parents, although they were developmentally and educationally years behind their respective ages.

Carina McCue testified that her husband confessed that he had raped their oldest daughter, who was 17 at the time of the fire. The teen confessed that her father  had been sexually assaulting her and her younger sister since they were young girls.

Prior to the trial, Carina McCue pled guilty to three counts of first-degree cruelty to children, aggravated assault and false imprisonment and agreed to testify against her husband. She was sentenced to 90 years in prison.

Although William McCue and the oldest daughter were not at the family’s home at the time of the fatal fire, he was still found liable for his younger daughter’s death. Jurors deliberated for just under four hours before returning guilty verdicts on all charges.

Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Wanda Vance and Assistant District Attorney Selwin Patterson prosecuted the case with assistance from Investigator Christina Newman and Victim Witness Advocates Esther Askew and Wonsiah Kermah. Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services, the Gainesville Police Department, and the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office were invaluable in helping to close this case, the District Attorney’s Office stated.