Kimberly Sullivan, a Connecticut woman accused of holding her stepson captive for over two decades, rejected two plea deals Friday in court. The 57-year-old chose to proceed to trial, foregoing offers that would have included significant prison sentences.
One of the rejected plea agreements would have resulted in a 30-year prison term, with the possibility of release after 20 years. A second, more lenient offer would have suspended the sentence after 10 years. To accept either deal, Sullivan would have been required to plead guilty to charges including kidnapping, assault, unlawful restraint, and cruelty to persons.
"It's a non-starter," Sullivan's attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, stated in July regarding any deal involving incarceration. He expressed that he did not anticipate a resolution requiring imprisonment.
The case is now expected to move towards a trial, with the judge suggesting that the main proceedings could take place in January. On Friday, the judge also denied Sullivan's request to have her electronic monitoring device removed, noting that she had made no attempts to flee since her arrest last year.
Sullivan faces two counts of first-degree kidnapping, along with charges of first-degree assault, first-degree unlawful restraint, and intentional cruelty to persons. Each kidnapping charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.
She was released on a $300,000 bond after her arrest in March of the previous year. The situation came to light when her stepson, then 33 years old, set fire to the Waterbury home where he had allegedly been held captive. Prosecutors have drawn parallels between the stepson's treatment and that of Holocaust victims, describing him as emaciated and akin to a survivor of a death camp. He weighed only 68 pounds upon his escape.
Sullivan has denied the allegations of locking her stepson in a room or starving him. According to the prosecution, she allegedly confined the man starting at age 10, allowing him out only for brief periods to perform chores. Investigators found the stepson had spent much of his life in a state of near-starvation.