The footage shared by News 12 Connecticut showed suspect Kimberly Sullivan pointing inside and telling firefighters, "My stepson is in there! I'm trying to have them help him out, I have two cats."
BODYCAM FOOTAGE: #Waterbury police have released the 911 call and body camera footage from the rescue of a 32-year-old man who told police he was held captive by his step-mother for 20 years. https://t.co/1RkqcB2MUy#News12CT #Crime pic.twitter.com/MIrzZghP4c
— News12CT (@News12CT) March 17, 2025
Shortly after, firefighters could be seen carrying out the 68-pound, badly emaciated 32-year-old man. Speaking with police, as previously reported by Law Enforcement Today, the man claimed to have been held captive by his stepmother for almost twenty years.
In body camera footage reported by CNN one officer said, referring to Sullivan can be heard to say, “I just don’t want her to f**king go anywhere. We don’t have enough to really detain her.”
Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo described the horrific state in which first responders found the victim, telling reporters, “33 years in law enforcement... [and] this is the worst treatment of humanity that I’ve ever witnessed.”
The photos were released by several news outlets, with CBS New York reporting Chief Spagnolo’s comments that the victim “may have walked through the fire to get out of the room that he was in. But he was, um, he stands at 5-foot-9 and he weighed 68 pounds. It's amazing he's alive."
Officials told WFSB that the exterior locks highlighted in the photos were used to secure the door to the victim’s bedroom from the outside. The bedroom, barely 9-foot by 8 foot, allegedly held the man for most of his life. As the starting point of the fire, the room is heavily charred in the images.
Ioannis Kaloidis, an attorney representing Sullivan, denied the allegations against her client, saying, “Absolutely not true. He was not locked in a room. She did not restrain him in any way.” The attorney added, “She provided food and she provided shelter, and she was blown away by these allegations. Absolutely not.”
"It's amazing he's alive," the Waterbury Police Chief said >> https://t.co/A3QYpeJGxV pic.twitter.com/5i6U34PFBt
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) April 1, 2025
Speaking with the outlet, the victim's biological mother, Tracy Vallerand, who reportedly surrendered custody of her son, has asked the courts for justice for her so,n saying, “She should be in prison just like she kept my son. It's disgusting."
As reported by Fox5 New York, Sullivan was charged with kidnapping, felony assault, cruelty to persons, as well as other crimes.
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