The Connecticut woman accused of holding her stepson captive for decades inside her Waterbury home recently rejected a plea deal made by prosecutors. Kimberly Sullivan, 58, said she wants to proceed to trial and leave her fate in the hands of a jury of her peers.

Criminal Charges

Sullivan is charged with two counts of kidnapping, unlawful restraint, intentional cruelty, and assault in connection with the discovery of her stepson, who was rescued from the home by firefighters in February 2025.

Charges against the Waterbury woman have increased since her initial arrest in 2025, after newly obtained evidence that has not been made public. Her attorney has continuously denied the allegations and charges against her, claiming that none of what has been portrayed by the alleged victim is true.

“We’ve asked people to keep an open mind, not to rush to judgment, when the evidence comes out at trial and the testimony from the various witnesses comes out at trial. We think the picture that will be painted will be very different,” Sullivan’s attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, said outside of court on Friday.

Sullivan is accused of locking her stepson up in the home at age 11, not allowing him to leave his small room unless to do meaningless chores for 20 years. Prosecutors offered Sullivan’s attorney a deal: if she pleaded guilty to a single charge for each offense, they would recommend a 30-year sentence, suspended after 20 years, with five years’ probation after release.

Denying a Plea Deal

At Friday morning’s hearing, the judge said she would likely impose a suspended sentence after 10 years served in prison. However, since the Waterbury woman rejected the prosecutor’s deal, if she is convicted at trial, she faces 10 to 25 years for each count of kidnapping, a maximum of 20 years for assault, and five years each for the final two charges.

Sullivan spoke directly to the judge, denied the prosecutor’s offer, and asked to proceed to trial. The judge warned her that prosecutors would withdraw their offer if she moved for trial and might not offer it again, and Sullivan confirmed she understood the potential consequences.

Waterbury House of Horrors

Waterbury, a city just 77 miles Northeast of New York City, home to less than 200,000 people, held a deep, dark secret that many did not know for two decades. It is considered a diverse area, known as “Brass City,” and offers an urban-suburban lifestyle. But it did not get put on the map until this gruesome discovery.

The alleged victim, referred to as “S” per personal preference, was rescued from the Waterbury, Connecticut, home in February 2025, weighing in at 68 pounds. He and the defendant were supposedly the only two living in the filth-ridden home, and it was not until S intentionally set a fire in an attempt to escape.

When firefighters arrived, they entered the home and saw what they initially thought was a little boy cowering under the counter. They carried him out of the house for the first time in what he claims is two decades. He alleged to investigators that he was locked away in his room at age 11, never allowed to leave, and was even taken out of school so he could clean the house during the day.

Intense House Arrest

Sullivan has been under house arrest in her assumed home in Waterbury for the last 18 months since she posted her $300,000 bond and was released from police custody. She has been under GPS and “IPS” monitoring, which her attorney requested be removed Friday at the hearing. 

“There have been zero violations; there have been zero even concerns about violations,” Kaloidis said. “I don’t believe the GPS is necessary. It does require daily charging for an hour. We are moving toward trial preparation; I do believe it is unnecessary and an inconvenience.”

The judge said the defendant’s GPS monitoring bracelet shall remain intact, but her “IPS” monitor may be removed, referring to the supervising officer or electronic tracking technology assigned to enforce Sullivan’s strict home confinement and movement restrictions. 

Sullivan will still be required to report to her probation officer for her monthly check-in to ensure her GPS device has not been tampered with or compromised. As for court proceedings, both sets of attorneys plan to reconvene to argue motions before a different judge, the one projected to preside over trial, on October 20, 2026.

A date for the Waterbury House of Horrors trial has not been set.