In an interview, the lawyer for Kimberly Sullivan, the Waterbury, Connecticut lady who is facing a long list of charges for allegedly assaulting her stepson for 20 years, claimed that his client is to blame for any abuse.
Ioannis Kaloidis stated that he vehemently disagrees with the portrayal of his client, citing bodycam footage made public by the Waterbury Police Department last week.
“I have seen the photos, I have seen the videos,” Kaloidis stated. “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.
“Her face has been plastered all over the TV, the news, the internet, social media. Her life has been turned upside down. She has a giant target on her back. She has essentially become public enemy number one. It is a tremendous weight that she is carrying. It is a tremendous upheaval to her entire life.”
After authorities reacted to a house fire in Waterbury on February 17, the accusations were made public.
They claimed to have discovered an underweight 32-year-old guy inside the house who was later determined to be Sullivan’s stepson.
He claimed that he purposefully started the fire in order to get his release.
“This has been an extreme shock to her,” Kaloidis stated. “She lived a relatively quiet life.”
“Her side of the story is quite simple,” he continued. “She did not harm him, she did not restain him, she did not imprison him.”
Sullivan’s arrest warrant states that her stepson, known as “Male Victim 1,” was detained for 20 years in an 8-by-9-foot storage closet without a window, without heat or air conditioning, and without a restroom.
He reportedly spent 22–24 hours a day in the closet.
According to the man, he was permitted to have two sandwiches and two tiny water bottles per day, one of which he would use for bathing, according to the police.
He claimed to have used newspapers and water bottles to dispose of his excrement. When first responders discovered the man after the fire, he weighed less than 70 pounds.
Sullivan was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons, and first-degree reckless endangerment after an inquiry led to his arrest on March 12.
She was freed from custody after posting a $300,000 bond.
Kaloidis stated that Sullivan denies putting her stepson in jail, even though he acknowledged that he did not know what has happened inside the house at any point over the previous 20 years.
“She recognizes that given these allegations, the rest of her life is on the line,” he stated. “She’s hopeful that through the process she will be vindicated.”
“I can tell you that the allegations were that this individual claims to have been imprisoned in that home up until the day of the fire,” Kaloidis stated. “And my client adamantly denies that there was any imprisonment. As for the whole history, there’s a lot that I anticipate will come out over the course of the trial, hopefully, because I think that’s the appropriate place for the release of any additional information.”
Source: NY Post
