LIHU‘E — Even though Hedy Leilani Sullivan pleaded guilty Tuesday to beating her son with a baseball bat, she was back at work yesterday as an administrator of a Kekaha charter school, the president of the school’s board said yesterday.
LIHU‘E — Even though Hedy Leilani Sullivan pleaded guilty Tuesday to beating her son with a baseball bat, she was back at work yesterday as an administrator of a Kekaha charter school, the president of the school’s board said yesterday.
Sullivan is the administrator of the Kula Aupuni Ni‘ihau a Kahelani Aloha (KANAKA) School in Kekaha.
She pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree assault Tuesday in Fifth Circuit Court, moments before jury selection was about to start for her trial. She was originally charged with kidnapping, first-degree terroristic threatening, and three counts of assault.
Sullivan 56, of Kekaha, pleaded guilty to two assault charges related to an incident in April 2004 where she beat her son, 11 at that time, multiple times with a baseball bat, and swung him around with a cord around his neck, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer Winn told the court.
Sullivan said only “guilty” when asked her plea Tuesday by Circuit Court Judge George M. Masuoka. She and her lawyer, Warren Perry, refused to answer questions outside the courtroom.
Prosecutors reserved the right to ask for up to 10 years imprisonment when Sullivan is sentenced March 22. Each second-degree assault charge is a class-C felonies, is punishable by five years in jail.
“We feel it’s a just (verdict), and it spared the child from testifying,” said Prosecuting Attorney Craig De Costa after the proceeding. “He’s OK now, no longer in the (Sullivan) home.”
No matter if she goes to jail or not, Sullivan will still have her school job, KANAKA School board president Lehua Kanahele told The Garden Island.
Since the school is not directly under the state Department of Education or state Board of Education umbrella, it’s up to the school’s board to make the decision about removal.
“To me, she’s nice,” Kanahele said. “She treated her boys very well. You know what kids do,” she said. “I don’t know about hitting her boy with a bat. I only hear things. I never see it.
When told of the guilty plea, Kanahele, said it had no bearing on Sullivan’s ability to do her job.
“This is nothing to do with her job. This is a personal thing,” Kanahele said. “For the school, we all like her and need her. She really helped us out.”
Plus, she added, it’s not like her to fire anyone.
“I wasn’t there as president to kick anybody out,” Kanahele said. “I was there to love everybody, and to take care of our staff, children, teachers, and our administrator.”
KANAKA, according to the Hawaii Charter Schools Network Web site, is a culturally-based, bilingual school dedicated to the preservation and promulgation of the Hawaiian language, culture, and ideologies of Ni‘ihau.
Classes at the school are held in the Kekaha Sugar Company’s former offices in Kekaha, but Aupuni O Ni‘ihau, the non-profit organization that provides funding for the charter school, has purchased the old Waimea Dispensary in Waimea, and is currently seeking funding to renovate the building and move the charter school there, he said.
Tom Finnegan, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or tfinnegan@pulitzer.net.
