As pictures go contained in the 9-by-8-foot room the person was allegedly locked in for twenty years, bodycam footage from the night time of the hearth exhibits suspected captor Kimberly Sullivan denying he was locked in.
Kimberly Sullivan’s protection legal professional is slamming the Waterbury Police Division for releasing images, video, and different paperwork associated to the case towards her. The discharge got here as the results of a Freedom of Info request by CT Insider and different media retailers.
“The discharge of delicate proof by the Waterbury Police Division in a pending and energetic investigation is stunning, offensive and fairly frankly, ethically questionable,” mentioned Sullivan’s legal professional Ioannis Kaloidis in an announcement launched to the CT Submit Tuesday.
Sullivan, 57, has been accused of holding her stepson, 32, captive within the home for twenty years. He allegedly set a fireplace in his bed room in his desperation to flee captivity, resulting in his eventual escape as the home burned and firefighters carried him out.
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“It solely serves to solidify public opinion towards Ms. Sullivan,” Kaloidis mentioned of the brand new supplies launched. “Justice requires the safety of constitutional rights and in the end, a good trial.”
In a movement asking the choose to order prosecutors to protect paperwork regarding any Freedom of Info requests, Kaloidis mentioned the discharge that did occur “seems to be a deliberate effort to affect public opinion bearing instantly on the defendant’s proper to a good trial and the presumption of innocence.”
“We name for a right away investigation into the discharge of those pictures and movies,” he added, arguing, “We intend to combat these outrageous allegations each step of the way in which.” Sullivan has maintained her innocence from the start.
Sullivan’s Bodycam Denial
Among the many objects launched is bodycam video from the night time of the hearth, shared her through CBS affiliate WFSB. Within the footage, Sullivan denied that her stepson was locked in his room that day, or ever, as lined by The New York Submit.
In keeping with the information outlet, Sullivan was with certainly one of her two grownup daughters on the time she was questioned — the daughter had reportedly arrived shortly after emergency responders.
Whereas sitting in her daughter’s automobile close by, an officer’s bodycam footage revealed how Sullivan responded to questions after her stepson claimed to firefighters and police that he’d been held captive and locked inside his room for 20 years.
“Was the door locked on his room, or no?” she was requested within the footage, to which she replied, “No.” When requested if it was “usually locked,” she once more replied, “No.”
“And he has free reign to exit of there at any time when he needs?” Sullivan was requested. Her response was, “Yeah,” however police are alleging that she was mendacity then and continues to lie.
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Among the many images launched to CT Insider are photos of the in depth smoke and fireplace harm the home sustained, in addition to pictures of the person’s bed room door, which appeared fitted with a number of locks police say had been used to maintain him confined.
Chatting with the press after Sullivan’s arrest on March 12, Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo advised the media that investigators had recovered the door and doorjamb from the stepson’s room. He mentioned they confirmed proof of locks that advanced over time to, they imagine, enhance in safety because the sufferer grew up and grew stronger.
The arrest warrant additional detailed that the stepson’s door had plywood reinforcing each side, which they imagine was one other measure to stop tampering with the locks, per CT Insider.
Within the launched pictures, a cluttered downstairs space, together with kitchen and front room, are largely unimpacted by the hearth, whereas there’s in depth smoke and fireplace harm in pictures taken from the upstairs space, the place the stepson’s bed room was.
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Sullivan’s Frantic 911 Name
Late final month, Sullivan’s 911 name was additionally launched to the media.
FOX NY obtained audio from Kimberly Sullivan’s preliminary name for assist. “Oh my god. Please hurry. There is a fireplace! Oh my god, there is a fireplace!” Sullivan exclaims to the 911 operator in the course of the name, because the operator asks what’s on fireplace.
“The TV? I do not know. My son, my stepson, was up in his room and I do not know, he did one thing with the TV. I used to be sleeping, I fell asleep,” Sullivan cries, confirming there are flames and smoke within the house.
“We’d like an ambulance, please! His room, the TV in his room!” she shouts, because the operator asks if her stepson was injured or on fireplace. “Sure! He is injured! Please ship an ambulance,” Sullivan yells into the cellphone.
When requested once more whether or not he is injured, she provides, “I do not know, he is sort of handed out. He is out of it. Oh my god, it is like all the facility in the home is out. I do not know if it blew a fuse.”
Bodycam footage from the scene exhibits Sullivan exterior her house, as first responders ask her who else is within the residence.
“My stepson is in right here. I am attempting to have them assist him out. That is it. I’ve two cats,” she tells the person. “All people’s out?” the officer asks, as she says, “Sure.” He then asks, “However your stepson’s nonetheless inside?”
As she says “he is proper there,” a firefighter could be seen popping out the entrance door, carrying one other individual. As she shares concern for her “shaking” canine, authorities usher her away from the scene — earlier than the stepson is positioned into an ambulance.
AP/Waterbury Police Division/CBS
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Hearth for Freedom
Authorities first grew to become concerned after an emergency name for an energetic fireplace at roughly 8:42 p.m. on February 17. That decision got here from Sullivan, the proprietor of the property that was aflame.
Whereas the hearth was rapidly extinguished and Sullivan was in a position to evacuate of her personal will, the opposite resident within the house wanted help from Waterbury Hearth Division’s Hearth personnel.
“Whereas receiving medical care [for smoke inhalation], the male sufferer disclosed to first responders that he had deliberately set the hearth in his upstairs room,” officers mentioned in a assertion relating to the case.
As for why he began the hearth, they mentioned he advised them merely, “I needed my freedom.”
“He additional alleged that he had been held captive by Sullivan since he was roughly 11 years outdated,” the assertion continued. In keeping with CBS affiliate WFSB, which shared the total arrest affidavit, the person allegedly spent these years locked inside an 8-foot by 9-foot room.
The alleged sufferer “lit a fireplace with some hand sanitizer, some paper from a printer, and he lit that fireplace whereas he was locked in that room from the surface,” mentioned a prosecutor in courtroom, per WFSB.
“He lit that fireplace very nicely realizing he may die,” the prosecutor continued, “however he had been locked within the room for 20 years, and for 20 years he’d been attempting to get out of that room.”
See extra of the horrific allegations about Sullivan right here.
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Sullivan’s Denial & Plea
Sullivan’s legal professional Ioannis Kaloidis mentioned the suspect’s late husband Kregg Sullivan — who died in 2024 — “was in management” of the scenario and was the one who determined to restrict his son to a 8-foot by 9-foot room beginning on the age of 11.
“Finally it was the daddy which dictated the style through which his son was raised and my consumer was solely finishing up his orders,” Kaloidis advised PEOPLE, earlier than additionally denying the stepson’s claims that he wasn’t allowed to bathe. “My consumer inspired him to wash however she shouldn’t be going to drive a 32-year-old man to care for himself,” Kaloidis mentioned.
The legal professional additionally claimed the person was by no means locked in his room and left the home each day for chores, like taking the trash. Per Kaloidis, “He may have simply walked away then if he needed to depart.”
“This is only one aspect of the story and folks shouldn’t rush to judgment. These allegations are horrific however there are two sides to each story, and my consumer plans to defend herself towards these allegations,” Kaloidis concluded.
Whereas Sullivan’s lawyer is shifting blame to her late husband, the stepson spoke extra favorably about him when speaking to police concerning the alleged abuse.
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In keeping with Sullivan’s arrest affidavit, the person said that he would “be let loose of his room for longer durations of time by his father” and claimed “that whereas Sullivan took his sisters to occasions and to see associates, his father would enable him to come back out and watch tv with him.”
“When discussing his father dying, he said that his captivity and restraint received even worse,” mentioned police. “[He] said that it received to some extent the place the one time he would ever be out of the home as soon as since his father died was to let the household canine out at the back of the property.”
Sullivan is free on $300,000 bond after pleading not responsible to all the fees towards her this previous Friday, together with felony fees of second-degree kidnapping, and first-degree illegal restraint. She was additionally charged with cruelty to an individual, and first-degree reckless endangerment, per CT Insider.
In case you are experiencing or witness baby abuse, name the Childhelp Nationwide Little one Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Little one or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. In the event you imagine a toddler is in fast hazard, name 911.
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