RIVERHEAD, N.Y. -- An infamous sex offender collapsed and died Saturday at a Long Island jail after refusing medical treatment, Suffolk County officials said.

The sheriff's office told Newsday that Sal Inghilleri collapsed around 9 a.m. He had been scheduled for a medical checkup, but refused treatment. Emergency workers responded and revived the 55-year-old who was later pronounced dead at Peconic Bay Medical Center, Chief Michael Sharkey told the paper. The medical examiner will determine a cause of death.

Inghilleri served 12 years for molesting Katie Beers, who at the age of 9 was kidnapped and stashed in a dungeon by another man -- John Esposito -- at a Bay Shore home for 16 days. Inghilleri had known Esposito and, during the investigation into the kidnapping, it was revealed that Inghilleri had sexually abused Beers before she was kidnapped.

His attorney Thomas Kenniff said Inghilleri had a history of medical problems including diabetes and a severe heart condition, and an arraignment in the case 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 by Esposito.