The woman who is accused of holding her stepson captive for 20 years in her Waterbury, Connecticut, home is appealing a judge’s ruling that she must wear a GPS ankle monitor while out on bail. 

Attorney Ioannis Kaloidis, who represents Kimberly Sullivan, wrote in an April 7 filing that Sullivan’s constitutional right to due process has been violated due to the fact that the ankle monitor was imposed as a further bail requirement after her first bail hearing. 

The filing says that on March 12, Waterbury Superior Court Judge Corinne Klatt ordered that bail for Sullivan be set at $300,000 with no other conditions except “intensive pre-trial supervision.”

Kim Sullivan, who is charged with neglect, stands with her attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, during her arraignment on Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at Waterbury Superior Court in Waterbury, Connecticut. (Jim Shannon/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool)

“We further believe that the state’s blatant attempt at a second bite at the apple in front of a different judge violates the principles previously set forth when our office litigated State v. Pan. We look forward to the restoration of the original conditions of Ms. Sullivan’s release, based on facts and the law, while the charges pending against her are impartially litigated.”

According to an arrest warrant for Sullivan, her stepson, identified as “Male Victim 1,” was held in a windowless 8-foot by 9-foot storage closet with no air conditioning or heat and without access to a bathroom for 20 years. He said he was kept inside the closet 22–24 hours per day.

He said he was allowed two sandwiches and two small water bottles each day, one of which he would use for bathing. The man told police he disposed of his waste using water bottles and newspaper. The man weighed less than 70 pounds when first responders found him after the fire.

The allegations came to light after a fire at Sullivan’s home. That warrant said that Sullivan’s stepson told police he set the fire on purpose because he wanted his freedom.