Editor's note: This version corrects an earlier headline. Richard Bruno is the alleged victim in this case.

A woman who had been incarcerated since September 2015 in connection with a home invasion/robbery in New London was released Wednesday on a written promise to appear in court after her attorney, M. Fred DeCaprio, told Superior Court Judge Hillary B. Strackbein that the defense case had gotten stronger.

The alleged victim of the home invasion is landlord Richard Bruno of Waterford, who is being held in lieu of $250,000 cash and is the subject of an ongoing police investigation into sex crimes.

Denise “Neece” Hughes, 49, will be living with a relative and is required to undergo counseling and drug treatment and continue making regular court appearances.

Her codefendant, 47-year-old Andre “Dre” Mercer, will remain incarcerated, but the judge agreed to refer him to a jail reinterview program that could lead to his being released from prison to a drug treatment program.

Prosecutor David J. Smith said he did not object to either action.

Hughes and Mercer were charged with ambushing Bruno as he renovated a three-family apartment building he owns at 27 West Coit on Sept. 26, 2012.

He claimed the couple confronted him in a bedroom and demanded money before punching him and striking him with a pillowcase containing a hard object and a 2-by-4 piece of lumber.

He said his attackers robbed him of $200.

Mercer and Hughes, who were identified as the suspects at the time and arrested in 2015 in Greeneville, N.C., have a different version of the events that has not yet been divulged in open court.

Their next court date is June 30.

Police began investigating Bruno, 46, of 33 Shore Road, the owner of a least 10 rental properties in New London, after learning he allegedly was attempting to extort sexual acts in lieu of cash from tenants.

They said Bruno also was soliciting sex from children. Officers worked with the state police Computer Crimes Unit to determine Bruno recently solicited what he believed to be a 13-year-old online.

Police arrested Bruno on May 5 when he showed up to meet the girl, and they executed a search-and-seizure warrant at his home.

Bruno posted a $150,000 bond in the first case, but 10 days later he was arrested on a warrant charging him with two counts of patronizing a prostitute.

Details of those charges remain under seal, but Bruno was ordered held in lieu of $250,000, cash only.

He is being held at the Bridgeport Correctional Center as the investigation continues and is due back in court on June 7.