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Woman Faces 20-Year Sentence For Keeping Adopted Son In Cage

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 9, 2008

JACKSONVILLE - A woman faces as long as 20 years in prison for keeping her 17-year-old adopted son caged in her Jacksonville home.

Brenda Sullivan pleaded guilty Thursday to three counts of aggravated child abuse. Prosecutors agreed to drop lesser child-neglect charges.

At sentencing early next month, Assistant State Attorney Julie Schlax plans to call witnesses from Ohio, where Sullivan lived before moving her family to Florida.

The teen weighed 49 pounds when child welfare workers found him in 2005 in what appeared to be a cage.

Sullivan told a judge at the time that Ohio authorities had told her to keep the teenager, who had severe medical and emotional problems, in a crib.

Sullivan's husband also was arrested, but he died in January 2007 while awaiting trial.

The Associated Press

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