San Joaquin County jurors convicted Anthony Waiters, 31, of all nine counts he faced, including aggravated mayhem, torture, kidnapping and false imprisonment of then-16-year-old Kyle Ramirez.
Prosecutors said that between 2007 and 2008, Waiters went frequently to the Tracy home where Ramirez was being held captive by his legal guardian and the homeowners. Waiters, a former youth football coach, never took the stand during his nearly monthlong trial.
Ramirez, now 18, testified last month that Waiters cut him, lit his pants on fire and beat him unconscious.
"They were all just laughing at me because I was trying to put the fire out," said Ramirez, then about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 100 pounds.
Ramirez said when he first arrived at the Tracy home, he was forced to do chores and sleep near a fireplace, chained to a coffee table.
The teen, now 6 feet 2 inches and 250 pounds, recounted other acts of cruelty, alleging Waiters once got a knife from the kitchen and cut his arm while others held him down.
"They cut my arm and poured bleach on it. It burned," he testified, showing jurors his scars.
Ramirez unchained himself after getting Schumacher's 2-year-old son to get him a set of keys that Schumacher left around the house. He soon fled after recalling Schumacher and Waiters once saying they were going to "chop me up and throw me in the Delta."
The emaciated teen escaped by running to the backyard, jumping on a trampoline, hopping a retaining wall and running to a nearby health club in December 2008, wearing only boxer shorts and a shackle across his ankle.
Waiters was the only person still being prosecuted in the case.
His neighbors -- Michael Schumacher; Schumacher' wife, Kelly Layne Lau; and the teen's then-legal guardian, Caren Ramirez -- have pleaded guilty to charges that included use of a deadly weapon and causing great bodily injury to a child. They could face at least 30 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 6.
Waiters is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 18.
