Sentencing Set for Couple Accused of Caging Teenager

Karen and Timothy Tolin, the Huron County couple who are currently up against some very stiff charges for keeping their adopted teenaged son caged, have accepted a plea deal for unlawful imprisonment.

 
In the Huron County District Court, just one day before their next scheduled hearings, both Karen and Timothy Tolin plead no contest to a single count of unlawful imprisonment. In return, the prosecution has agreed to dismiss the vulnerable adult abuse charge against each of them.

 
The Tolins were arrested in late October when a sheriff’s deputy responded to a civil dispute at their home, and was granted permission to enter a back bedroom where the Tolin’s 19-year-old son was chained up in a cage.

 
The teen, who suffers from Angelman’s syndrome, was apparently naked and locked up in the soiled cage, with nothing other than a single blanket and his own bodily fluids. The deputy who discovered him contacted DHS in an effort to deal with the scenario properly, having never been faced with a situation like this before.

 
The charge of unlawful imprisonment, is a felony punishable by 15 years in prison, and the third-degree vulnerable adult abuse is a high court misdemeanor punishable by up to 2 years in prison.

 
Their sentencing date is scheduled for March 9th. Until then, the couple are both free on bonds of $5,000 each. The remaining the individuals who lived with the Tolin’s have been removed by CPS and are now in the custody of the state.