The woman at the center of what some have described as a real-life horror story in Connecticut has finally broken her silence through her attorney.
Kimberly Sullivan, the 70-year-old stepmother accused of holding her now 32-year-old stepson captive for two decades, has sparked outrage after denying all allegations of abuse. Her legal team are calling the charges an “extreme shock” to a woman who led a “relatively quiet life.”
“Her life has been turned upside down,” said her defense attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, painting Sullivan as the innocent victim of a disinformation campaign with a “giant target on her back.”
“Her side of the story is quite simple,” Kaloidis told local media. “She did not harm him. She did not restrain him. She did not imprison him.”
Woman accused of trapping her stepson in a closet for two decades is declaring herself innocent
Image credits: Hartford Courant / Getty
After her arrest on March 12, Sullivan is facing charges that include first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, and cruelty. Authorities discovered her stepson in an emaciated state following a fire in the family’s home on February 17.
According to police, it was the stepson himself who set the house ablaze in a desperate attempt to escape what has been described as a two-decade-long nightmare.
Image credits: Fox 61
Inside the house, officers found a 8-by-9-foot storage closet where the man said he had been confined for most of his life. The space, windowless and without heat or ventilation, was described as filthy and unsanitary, and was reinforced with plywood and a slide lock.
Image credits: Inside Edition
As Bored Panda previously reported, official documents detailed how the man was kept in that closet for close to 24 hours a day, subsisting on only two sandwiches and two bottles of water daily—one for drinking, the other for bathing.
When rescued, the man weighed under 70 pounds.
Adding to his torture, the victim was refused access to a bathroom and had to relieve himself using newspapers and the aforementioned water bottle, the result of which was apparent when police searched the area.
Sullivan’s lawyer argued that the case has been misrepresented in an attempt to paint his client in the worse possible light
Image credits: Waterbury Police Department
Giving credence to the police reports were images of the house, showing cluttered, dirty rooms and a rundown staircase, which flooded the internet shortly after Sullivan’s arrest, shocking the public.
Despite the gruesome allegations and outrage, Sullivan’s attorney insisted that there’s more to the story, and that the photos and videos have been misrepresented in an attempt to exaggerate Sullivan’s role in the case
Image credits: Waterbury Police Department
“I have seen the photos, I have seen the videos,” Kalodis said. “I disagree with the characterization of those photos and videos. They’ve been made out to be the worst that anyone has seen in 20 years. I do not see that as the case.”
For Kaloidis, said mischaracterization has endangered his client’s life, turning her into “public enemy number one.”
“Her face has been plastered all over the TV, the news, the internet, and social media. Her life has been turned upside down,” he added. “It is a tremendous weight that she is carrying. It is a tremendous upheaval to her entire life.”
Prosecutors argue Sullivan should carry a GPS ankle monitor due to “substantial risk of flight”
Image credits: Waterbury Police Department
After posting a $300,000 bond the day after her March 12 arrest, Sullivan was released under intensive pretrial supervision.
At the time, Judge Corinne Klatt denied prosecutors’ request to place her under house arrest or GPS monitoring. However, that decision was reversed on March 28 by Judge Joseph Schwartz, who ordered Sullivan to wear a GPS monitor, citing concerns about public safety.
Sullivan’s legal team quickly fired back, filing an appeal. In the petition, they argued that the judge’s decision was not supported by any new evidence.
Image credits: Waterbury Police Department
“There was no new material information that demonstrated the inadequacy of the original conditions,” the document read. “The defendant was not arrested or even charged with any new offenses.”
Image credits: Waterbury Police Department
Prosecutors, on the other hand, remain adamant that GPS monitoring is necessary, with Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Don Therkildsen Jr. arguing that Sullivan is a “substantial risk of flight.”
He also referenced his initial conversation with the victim.
“Why is she out walking around when I was locked up in a room for 20 years?” he reportedly said.