ATLANTA, Ga. (Court TV) — The attorney for a woman whose stepson claims he was held captive at their home for decades said there has been a “rush to judgment” and maintains his client is innocent of any crime.
Kim Sullivan who is charged with neglect, stands between her attorneys Jason Spilka, left, and Ioannis Kaloidis, right, during her arraignment Wednesday, March 12, 2025 at Waterbury Superior Court in Waterbury, Conn. (Jim Shannon/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP, Pool)
Kimberly Sullivan, 56, is charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty and reckless endangerment after her stepson set fire to their home and told police he did so to escape captivity.
While the alleged victim, 32, told officers that he was restrained in the house for twenty years, Sullivan’s attorney says the claims are false.
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“My client denies having done anything wrong,” Sullivan’s attorney, Ioannis Kaloidis, told Court TV’s Vinnie Politan. “The defense will be that this didn’t happen. The details will come out, but our defense is that she did not commit this offense.”
According to court documents, the alleged victim told police that beginning when he was 11, he was locked in a room without heat or air conditioning nearly all day and night and was only given limited food and water. When emergency crews removed him from the burning home on Feb. 17, he weighed only 69 pounds. Medical personnel said he suffered from wasting syndrome, which is characterized by loss of muscle and fat and is a sign of malnutrition. His hair was matted and his teeth were described as rotten.
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“He was 32 years old,” Kaloidis said. “(Sullivan) could not control whether he took care of himself properly or not. He was 32 years old. What I can tell you is, she denies ever restraining him, she denies ever locking him in a room, she denies ever depriving him of any of these opportunities.”
The victim was removed from school approximately 20 years ago, but Kaloidis points out that it was done at the direction of the alleged victim’s biological father. “The father is the one that dictated how the son would be raised,” Kaloidis said of Sullivan’s husband, who died in 2024. “This is not my client’s biological son. She did not make the determination as to schooling, being pulled out of school. A lot has been put on her, and that’s simply not the case.”
A chain lock is seen on the frame of a burned door from inside Kimberly Sullivan’s home. (Waterbury Police Department)
Kaloidis told Politan that the home always had food in the cupboards and refrigerator and that the exterior locks on interior doors, as seen in photos, had been installed before Sullivan moved in. Absent from photos released by investigators, Kaloidis pointed out, are any restraints or handcuffs that would indicate the victim was unable to move freely around the home.
“I don’t want to come on here and bash (the victim),” Kaloidis said. “But based on the discovery I have seen, the interviews I have watched, there will be significant credibility issues. This case, ultimately, is going to come down to credibility.”
The alleged victim’s biological mother, Tracy Vallerand, has described Sullivan as a “monster” and told Politan in an interview that she would love to be reunited with her son.
