Days after Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arrested and charged with assault within the first diploma, kidnapping within the second diploma, illegal restraint within the first diploma, cruelty to individuals and reckless endangerment within the first diploma, authorities have launched footage of her stepson’s rescue.

Within the video, Sullivan could be seen exterior her dwelling, as first responders ask her who else is within the dwelling.

“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 particular person. As she shares concern for her “shaking” canine, authorities usher her away from the scene — earlier than the stepson is positioned into an ambulance.

Authorities turned concerned after an emergency name for an energetic hearth 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 fireplace was rapidly extinguished and Sullivan was in a position to evacuate of her personal will, the opposite resident within the dwelling, a 32-year-old man, wanted help from Waterbury Fireplace Division’s Fireplace personnel.

He was subsequently handled by emergency medical responders. It was solely when police started speaking to the person that they uncovered that it was he who had began the fireplace — and why.

“Whereas receiving medical care [for smoke inhalation], the male sufferer disclosed to first responders that he had deliberately set the fireplace in his upstairs room,” officers stated in a assertion relating to the case.

As for why he began the fireplace, they stated he advised them merely, “I wished my freedom.”

“He additional alleged that he had been held captive by Sullivan since he was roughly 11 years previous,” 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 hearth with some hand sanitizer, some paper from a printer, and he lit that fireside whereas he was locked in that room from the skin,” stated a prosecutor in courtroom, per WFSB.

“He lit that fireside very nicely understanding 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.”

The person’s preliminary feedback triggered an investigation as he was discovered to be in a “severely emaciated situation,” weighing simply 68 kilos, based on WFSB.

“Investigators additional found that he had been supplied with solely minimal quantities of meals and water which led to his extraordinarily malnourished situation,” the police assertion added.

The person purportedly advised authorities he was given solely two cups of water per day and was generally pressured to drink out of the bathroom. It was additionally decided he “had not acquired medical or dental care” throughout his a long time inside the house.

The affidavit additional particulars the person’s allegations that he was pulled from college within the fourth grade and solely allowed out of his room to do chores or to let the canine out, spending roughly 22 hours locked within the room.

He additional advised police he’d had no contact with anybody exterior the house, and that the final time he’d left the home was along with his now-deceased father when he was 14 or 15 years previous. He added that solely his two half-sisters and a deceased grandmother knew of his scenario.

He stated that his concern of shedding the minimal meals and water he was given, and that he is likely to be locked in even longer, saved him from attempting to interrupt out.

On account of the person’s assertion, investigators concluded that the sufferer had been pressured to endure “extended abuse, hunger, extreme neglect, and inhumane therapy,” resulting in an arrest warrant being issued for Sullivan.

Lawyer Ioannis A. Kaloidis stated 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.

“In the end it was the daddy which dictated the style wherein his son was raised and my shopper 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 shopper inspired him to wash however she just isn’t going to drive a 32-year-old man to deal with himself,” Kaloidis stated.

The legal professional additionally claimed the person was by no means locked in his room and left the home day by day for chores, like taking the trash. Per Kaloidis, “He may have simply walked away then if he wished to depart.”

“This is only one facet of the story and other people shouldn’t rush to judgment. These allegations are horrific however there are two sides to each story, and my shopper 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 in regards to the alleged abuse.

In keeping with Sullivan’s arrest affidavit, the person said that he would “be set free 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 acquired even worse,” stated police. “[He] said that it acquired 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 was launched Thursday after posting $300,000 bail; she’s due again in courtroom on March 26.

If you’re experiencing or witness youngster abuse, name the Childhelp Nationwide Baby Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Baby or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. In case you consider a baby is in quick hazard, name 911.