Kimberly Sullivan, accused of holding her stepson captive in a Waterbury home for two decades, is headed for a February trial.

Tuesday was a records hearing, not a ruling on guilt. The judge now has to sort through child-welfare, school and treatment files and decide what a jury gets to hear. The defense won one motion outright: prosecutors cannot call the stepson "the victim" at trial. Sullivan turned down offers of 10 and 20 years to serve and is taking her chances with a jury.

A Connecticut judge on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, received a set of confidential records in the case against Kimberly Sullivan, the Waterbury woman accused of holding her stepson captive for more than 20 years, NBC News reported. The records were obtained by state subpoena from the Department of Children and Families, the Waterbury Public Schools and an undisclosed treatment facility, according to NBC News. Over the next several weeks the judge is expected to review them and decide which can be used at trial. Sullivan was not present for the hearing at the Waterbury Judicial District courthouse, NBC News reported.

The trial is expected to begin in February, with jury selection about a month earlier, NBC News reported. NBC Connecticut reported that Sullivan's stepson, who is identified in court only by the alias S., is expected to testify. His sister is also expected to testify, according to NBC News.

Sullivan's attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, filed a series of motions Tuesday, NBC News reported. The judge granted a request that prosecutors not refer to the stepson as "the victim" during the trial. He also granted a defense motion requiring that any information that could challenge or undermine the credibility of S. and his sister be turned over during pretrial discovery. A defense request for a 12-member jury instead of six will be argued at the next hearing, set for Nov. 23, according to NBC News.

Sullivan was arrested in March 2025. According to a police affidavit described by NBC News, her stepson, then 32, told police he had spent nearly his whole life being abused, starved and held in captivity since he was about 11, and that he deliberately set a fire in his room to get out. Police said he was severely malnourished, had not received medical or dental care in years, and weighed 68 pounds at 5 feet 9 inches tall when he was found, NBC News reported. "It was worse than the conditions of a jail cell," Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo told reporters last year. Those are the allegations in the police account. They have not been tested at trial.

Sullivan has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, assault, unlawful restraint and intentional cruelty to persons, NBC News reported. In September she rejected two plea offers, according to NBC News and WFSB: one from the judge for 30 years suspended after 10 years served, and one from the state for 30 years suspended after 20 years served plus five years of probation. Kaloidis has said his client has consistently maintained her innocence. He previously criticized Waterbury police for releasing photos from inside the Blake Street home, calling the release a threat to her right to a fair trial, NBC Connecticut reported.

If convicted, Sullivan faces more than 45 years in prison, NBC News reported. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.