The biological family of a man held captive in a Waterbury home for 20 years were in court Wednesday as the woman accused of the crime faced a judge.
A woman who is accused of locking her emaciated stepson in a room in their Waterbury home and starving him for decades is due back in court on Friday after a brief appearance on Wednesday morning.
During the very brief court appearance, the victim’s biological mother, Tracy Vallerand, was in the courtroom to show support for her son as the stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, faced the charges.
“It’s just disgusting that she’s allowed on the streets right now,” Vallerand said outside of court on Wednesday.
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Vallerand said the last time she saw her son was when he was 6 months old and she had been looking for him for years.
She told reporters outside court that she left her son in the care of his father, thinking he would have a better life.
“I never knew him as being evil,” Vallerand said.
When he is healthier and he's stronger, if he wants relationship with me, I am right here. I'm not going anywhere.
Tracy Vallerand, biological mother
The father died in January 2024 and the victim told police that the abuse, which started when he was 3, got worse after his father’s death, according to the arrest warrant for Sullivan.
Vallerand said she only learned of where her son was when her sister called her to tell her that she saw news of him being rescued on television.
That rescue was on Feb. 17 when firefighters and police responded to a fire at 2 Blake St. in Waterbury.
Police said the victim, who is 32 years old and weighs only 68 pounds, told first responders that he had been locked in the house for his entire life and set the fire because he wanted his freedom.
Weeks after the fire, police charged Kimberly Sullivan with assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
Sullivan has denied the allegations and has not yet entered a plea.
Sullivan’s attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, spoke outside court on Wednesday and said the state has indicated that it will file a motion seeking to add some conditions, such as electronic or GPS monitoring, to his client’s release since she is free on bond.
He has said his client maintains her innocence and the allegations are serious, they are not true and the state has to prove them in court.
“Those allegations are made by one person. I understand the whole world has jumped on those allegations and has already convinced my client, but the good thing about America is that is not how we work,” he said.
When asked about seeing Sullivan in court, Vallerand said she was “disgusted” and she said other family members are complicit as well.
“The two daughters also knew that he was there. They didn’t say anything, they’re complicit. Even the daughter’s boyfriend that knew he was there. They all need to be charged,” Vallerand said.
Vallerand said she and her daughter, the victim’s half-sister, looked for her for years.
She said they have not yet spoken to him and doen't know where he is, but they will continue to show up.
"When he is healthier and he's stronger, if he wants relationship with me, I am right here. I'm not going anywhere," Vallerand said.
Watch "Waterbury Man Held Captive," an NBC Connecticut special report
NBC Connecticut exclusively sat down with Vallerand and her daughter, Heather Tessman, where they spoke in-depth about the case and the years leading up to the victim being found.
