The Connecticut woman who allegedly tortured, starved and held her stepson captive in a house of horrors for more than two decades will remain free on bail after pleading not guilty Friday — as prosecutors revealed the severely emaciated victim lives in constant “fear.”
Kimberly Sullivan, 56, entered the plea after her 32-year-old stepson’s dramatic rescue from a burning Waterbury home last month uncovered a pattern of alleged abuse that authorities likened to “a horror movie.”
Prosecutors sought to have the stepmom, who posted bail following her widely publicized arrest earlier this month, put under house arrest — but a judge denied the request and instead ordered her to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
“This victim is afraid, this victim lives in fear,” prosecutor Donald Thirkelson told the court as he sought to have Sullivan’s current bail conditions tightened.
He added that when he first introduced himself, the alleged victim asked: “Why is she out walking around when I was locked up for 20 years.”
Sullivan was charged with cruelty and kidnapping after her severely emaciated stepson alleged she kept him padlocked in a tiny room, starved him and deprived him of water so severely that he was forced to drink from the toilet bowl.
The shocking details only emerged after the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, opened up to cops about the hellish conditions he was forced to endure since he was a child after he deliberately set his home on fire on Feb. 17 to escape the nightmare.
An investigation later determined he had been held in captivity for more than 20 years — during which he was starved and neglected, authorities said.
“He was, without exaggeration, akin to a survivor of Auschwitz’s death camp,” officials said of the victim’s condition soon after he was rescued.
The victim weighed a mere 69 pounds when he was freed, authorities said. For comparison, CDC data suggest an “average” 32-year-old American male weighs just under 200 pounds.
Sullivan, who posted her $300,000 bail soon after her arrest, has repeatedly denied the sick allegations.
“I understand the whole world has jumped on those allegations and has already convicted my client,” Sullivan’s lawyer, Ioannis Kaloidis, told reporters earlier this week.
“But the good thing about America is that’s not how we work. She’s presumed innocent until proven otherwise in court.”
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