Mum who ‘held stepson in house of horrors’ for 31 years makes move that could see her spend decades in jail
A woman accused of keeping her stepson prisoner in her house for 20 years has rejected a plea deal that could have significantly reduced her prison sentence.
57-year-old Kimberly Sullivan was last year arrested after a fire was started at her property in Waterbury, Connecticut, with a man saying he was her stepson claiming responsibility for it as he alleged he'd done it to get 'freedom'.
Responders found a 32-year-old man in a 'severely emaciated condition' claiming that Sullivan had kept him captive in the home since he was 11.
Sullivan has been charged with assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons, and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
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Following her arrest her legal representative said she 'completely maintains her innocence', and NBC reports that she recently turned down a deal that would have seen her in prison for 10 years.
They report that prosecutors had offered her a plea deal where she admitted to the crime and served a sentence of 30 years in prison, suspended after 20 years so she could be free on probation after two decades.
A judge had then made an improved offer of a 30 years sentence suspended after 10 years, meaning she'd only spent a decade behind bars if she admitted to the crime.
However, Sullivan has turned this down and her lawyer Ioannis Kaloidis said there weren't going to be deals and he was expecting the woman not to end up in prison for any period of time.
"I don't anticipate this case ending with anything involving incarceration," the lawyer said, adding, "Kimberly has done nothing wrong, so she's surprised any of this is even occurring."
The date Sullivan has to make a decision on the deal is 4 September as that's when she'll be back in court to officially respond to it, but her lawyer has made it clear the answer is going to be 'no'.
As such the matter is expected to go to trial, and if found guilty the 57-year-old could expect a much harsher sentence than the ones she was offered as part of the plea deal.
Kaloidis previously called the accusations against Sullivan 'outlandish' and 'not true'.
Waterbury Police Department's chief Fernando Spagnolo called it 'one of the worst acts of inhumanity' he'd ever seen.
Officers claim the man who set fire to the house was 5'9 and weighed 68lbs, saying he'd been 'held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment'.
They also allege he'd been given 'only minimal amounts of food and water' and he needed medical attention for smoke inhalation immediately upon being taken out of the house.
The man said he'd started the fire because 'I wanted my freedom', and had used printer paper, hand sanitiser and a lighter to ignite the blaze.
Alleging that his stepmother kept him captive in the house, the man claims he was 'locked in his room between 22 to 24 hours a day' and he knew what year it was thanks to a radio he could hear through his bedroom door.
Joe Harker