CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Chesterfield Judge Edward Robbins sentenced a former Henrico County police officer to 20 years on Thursday for abusing his two elementary-age sons and allowing his fiancée to abuse them as well.
Bhalmiki Maharaj pleaded guilty in July 2025 to child abuse and neglect, assault and battery, malicious wounding and child cruelty.
Robbins said the defendant had a special responsibility to his sons and a human being of any decency would have acted if they saw what was taking place.
He said Maharaj's military service in Iraq and bad upbringing were mitigating factors he considered when giving him an active sentence above the sentencing guidelines, but below the maximum that each charge carried.
During the sentencing hearing, the Commonwealth played multiple videos from Ring cameras inside the couple's home showing the older child doing squat jumps while Maharaj's fiancée, Barbie Paul, berated, kicked, slapped and punched him. Maharaj was in the room and allowed the abuse to happen.
Maharaj also chimed in during the videos, saying things like "stop your dumb breathing" and "don't keep making dumb noises," or telling his son to "touch the floor" or to "jump right."
"I’m not going to try to convince you that i didn’t do any of this, it’s obvious, I failed my kids," Maharaj said during Thursday's hearing. "I'm ashamed of what I've done, I'm ashamed of the fact that I brought this horrible thing against my family, my kids, there is nothing no amount of words I can say to express how bad I feel about what happened or what they went through. I really love my kids, and the one thing I wanted to do best was the one thing I failed the worst at, and I'll have to live with that forever. They will always have the memory of me being a bad father."
Watch: Former Henrico teacher’s abuse of stepsons came from 'evil mind,' judge says
Another judge previously sentenced Paul, a former Henrico County teacher, to more than 132 years behind bars for the abuse.
As the videos played in the courtroom, Maharaj began crying to the point of sobbing, and the judge called a recess so he could collect himself.
When court resumed, the judge said the evidence in the case is certainly difficult to watch and acknowledged the defendant's emotional response was not at all surprising.
Court records show Maharaj admitted to detectives that he hit the older boy on the face and hand with a slipper because he was not doing his military-style exercises in a satisfactory manner.
Maharaj also admitted that he broke the femur of the 11-year-old in the summer of 2022 by striking him with a 5-pound dumbbell.
Detective Christopher Neville, the primary Chesterfield detective who handled the case, testified that in the thousands of hours of video footage he reviewed, he never saw Maharaj play games with the boys and never saw him tell Paul to stop disciplining them.
Neville said he saw Maharaj tell the boys he loved them twice.
Maharaj's attorney, Peter Baruch, highlighted a traumatic brain injury Maharaj received in a car accident in June 2021 as part of his client's sentencing case.
"At least I can say that I’ve accepted the responsibility of it," Maharaj said during Thursday's hearing. "At least I can say I am setting an example for my kids, that I am taking responsibility for my actions."
CBS 6's Melissa Hipolit talked to Maharaj's sons after court. The older boy told her he thought the sentence was too light, and he wanted his father to serve 45 years in jail. The younger boy said after hearing his dad talk at the hearing he felt like his dad did actually love him in his heart.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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