Waterbury man held captive: Biological mother and sister speak out

NBC Connecticut sat down with the biological mother and half sister of the man who said he was held captive by his stepmother for 20 years inside a Waterbury home.

In their first on-camera interview together, the man's mother, Tracy Vallerand, and his half sister, Heather Tessman, spoke about the allegations that have rocked their worlds, and garnered national attention.

"It’s hard to think about what he had to go through. Just knowing that he was right there," Vallerand said.

The 52-year-old has spent the last three decades wondering where her son was. She didn't know he was just a few towns over, allegedly being held in an 8-by-9-foot room, with little food and water.

The victim's stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, is now facing charges including kidnapping and assault.

"I don't hate people at all," Vallerand said. "This one, I hate."

Vallerand said she gave up custody of her son shortly after his birth in 1993. When asked why, she said the story starts with her daughter, Heather.

"We should actually start when Heather was born, because that’s pretty much where it all began," Vallerand said. "One day I was at work. I got called up that Heather was being taken to the hospital. DCF (the state Department of Children & Families) took her, said she had shaken baby syndrome."

Vallerand said her daughter's father was charged with the crime, and both of them lost custody. Tessman grew up with foster parents.

From there, a custody battle began, and Vallerand said it "broke" her. Around that time is when she met her son's father, Kraigg Sullivan.

"I had gone on a few dates with Kraigg at the time. … I ended up trying to kill myself because I knew I wasn’t getting her back. Kraigg would visit me while I was in the hospital, dated for about a half year, then we got married," she recalled. "When I knew him, he was a sweet guy. After we got married, we had our son."

After her son's birth, Vallerand said she still struggled.

"I was still having issues coping. Things didn’t work out between the two of us, and I was thinking that I was giving my son a better chance at a full life. If I had known … what … I just can’t fathom it. I have no words," Vallerand said.

Her son went on to live with his father and Kimberly Sullivan. Vallerand said she made many attempts to get back into her son's life.

"There was a park that I was told Kraigg would actually take him for walks. I would park there and be there for hours just trying to see if I’d see him. Never seen him," she said.

"He was about three or four when I actually started working with Kraigg’s brother-in-law, and they were gonna actually arrange it where I’d go over to their house, and Kraigg and my son would be there also. They never showed. That was the last opportunity that I had," she continued.

The first place he was living at, he wouldn’t allow me to see him. Then he moved, and he didn’t tell me where he moved to.

Tracy Vallerand

She said when her son turned 18, both she and her daughter tried to find him online.

"High school yearbooks, I know I started there. Nothing in Waterbury, nothing in Wolcott. He wasn’t in it. Then you start getting more social media ... MySpace, Facebook, everywhere. No sign of him," Vallerand said.

"We just thought that he had graduated and started his life," Tessman said. "I didn’t have any reason to worry because as far as I knew, he was with his parents, living his life. He missed everything that he should have done. Everything. No girlfriends, no concerts, no going to the movies, nothing … all of these things we take for granted, he just got robbed of everything. It’s not right."

In an arrest warrant, the man said most of his life was spent inside an 8-by-9-foot room for the past 20 years, with little food and water.

“Can’t fathom it. Then to have her two daughters in the house as well," Vallerand said. “What were they doing? Were they waiting for him to actually die? What were they gonna do then?"

"What she did is sub-human. You can’t get away with that," Tessman said.

Going forward, they plan to attend every court hearing of Sullivan's.

“I’m gonna be there for my son,” Vallerand said.

“I’m gonna be there for my brother," Tessman said. "Stare daggers through her skull.”

They haven't yet met their son and brother, but hope to in the future.

"He’s in a very delicate stage right now," Vallerand said.

“If he reaches out, absolutely, but it’s not about us, it’s about him and his recovery, so if he wants either one of us, both of us, neither of us, it’s up to him not us," Tessman said.

“I’ll be surprised if he trusts anybody ever," Vallerand said.