Connecticut stepmother declines plea offers, heads to trial over decades-long abuse

In a Connecticut courtroom, Kimberly Sullivan refused two plea bargains that offered a maximum 30-year term, with one allowing release after 20 years and another after just 10. Her lawyer argued that any sentence involving prison is unacceptable. The judge scheduled the core of the trial for January and rejected Sullivan's bid to discard her electronic ankle monitor, citing her compliance since being taken into custody last year.

Sullivan faces two counts of first-degree kidnapping, plus first-degree assault, unlawful restraint and intentional cruelty, each kidnapping count carrying up to 25 years. Prosecutors described the victim, a 33-year-old man, as severely emaciated, weighing only 68 pounds when he escaped, likening his condition to Holocaust survivors. Sullivan maintains she never locked the man in a room or starved him.