A convicted sex offender linked to the notorious case of a girl who was kidnapped and hidden in a dungeon more than a decade ago collapsed and died Saturday at a jail after refusing medical treatment, officials said.
Sal Inghilleri, 55, collapsed at a jail in Riverhead but refused treatment, the Suffolk County sheriff's office told Newsday. Emergency workers revived Inghilleri, who was later pronounced dead at Peconic Bay Medical Center.
The medical examiner will determine a cause of death.
Inghilleri was convicted of two counts of sexual abuse and served 12 years for molesting Katie Beers, who at the age of 9 was kidnapped and stashed in a dungeon for 16 days in 1991 at a Long Island home by John Esposito. During the investigation into the kidnapping, authorities discovered that Inghilleri had sexually abused the girl before she was abducted.
His attorney, Thomas Kenniff, said Inghilleri had a history of medical problems including diabetes and a severe heart condition, and that an arraignment had to be done from a hospital.
"It has been a frustrating case in a lot of ways," Kenniff said. "I felt we were winning most of the battles, but the clock has unfortunately run out for him before it could be finished."
Inghilleri was paroled in 2006 but was arrested again and faced federal charges of violating the rules of his release by failing to notify authorities that he had moved from his Bay Shore home. He had been held on bail in the Riverhead jail since October 2007.
Esposito was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1994 after prosecutors agreed to a plea bargain to spare the victim the pain of testifying.
Ordinarily, sex abuse victims are not publicly identified, but Beers was already well known because of the high-profile search for her while she was held captive.
"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte
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