A Seymour man accused of holding his sister captive in “dungeon”-like conditions is scheduled to decide next week whether to take a plea deal.
Arthur Gauvin, 59, is due at Superior Court in Milford April 28, where he will accept or reject a plea offer calling for him to serve five and 10 years behind bars.
Gauvin’s lawyer said Wednesday his client hasn’t yet made a decision on whether to take the deal.
“He’s considering the offer,” Daniel Ford, the lawyer, said.
Gauvin was arrested by Seymour police about a year ago, after an anonymous complaint led cops to his Eleanor Road house.
Police said Gauvin kept his sister locked in a fetid, urine- and feces-stained bedroom in conditions so bad that detectives had to don self-contained breathing apparatus and hazardous-materials suits to document the filth.
Cops said Gauvin’s alleged motive for keeping his sister locked up was his fear of losing the home, which the sister once owned but transferred to him about seven years ago.
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Gauvin faces charges of first-degree assault of an elderly person, second-degree kidnapping, cruelty to persons, second-degree reckless endangerment, first-degree unlawful restraint and witness intimidation.
The plea offer he’s contemplating would see him sentenced to a 15-year prison term to be suspended after between five and 10 years behind bars.
If he rejects the plea deal, prosecutors have indicated further charges could be filed against Gauvin, according to court records.
He is free after posting bonds totaling $105,000, but is being monitored by court officials via GPS.
Gauvin is barred form the home while the charges against him are pending, as well as from contacting his sister.
