NBC Connecticut sat down with the organic mom and half sister of the person who mentioned he was held captive by his stepmother for 20 years inside a Waterbury house.
Of their first on-camera interview collectively, the person’s mom, Tracy Vallerand, and his half sister, Heather Tessman, spoke concerning the allegations which have rocked their worlds, and garnered nationwide consideration.
“It’s hard to think about what he had to go through. Just knowing that he was right there,” Vallerand mentioned.
The 52-year-old has spent the final three a long time questioning the place her son was. She did not know he was just some cities over, allegedly being held in an 8-by-9-foot room, with little meals and water.
The sufferer’s stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, is now dealing with prices together with kidnapping and assault.
“I don’t hate people at all,” Vallerand mentioned. “This one, I hate.”
Vallerand mentioned she gave up custody of her son shortly after his delivery in 1993. When requested why, she mentioned the story begins along with her daughter, Heather.
“We should actually start when Heather was born, because that’s pretty much where it all began,” Vallerand mentioned. “One day I was at work. I got called up that Heather was being taken to the hospital. DCF (the state Department of Children & Families) took her, said she had shaken baby syndrome.”
Vallerand mentioned her daughter’s father was charged with the crime, and each of them misplaced custody. Tessman grew up with foster dad and mom.
From there, a custody battle started, and Vallerand mentioned it “broke” her. Round that point is when she met her son’s father, Kraigg Sullivan.
“I had gone on a few dates with Kraigg at the time. … I ended up trying to kill myself because I knew I wasn’t getting her back. Kraigg would visit me while I was in the hospital, dated for about a half year, then we got married,” she recalled. “When I knew him, he was a sweet guy. After we got married, we had our son.”
After her son’s delivery, Vallerand mentioned she nonetheless struggled.
“I was still having issues coping. Things didn’t work out between the two of us, and I was thinking that I was giving my son a better chance at a full life. If I had known … what … I just can’t fathom it. I have no words,” Vallerand mentioned.
Her son went on to dwell together with his father and Kimberly Sullivan. Vallerand mentioned she made many makes an attempt to get again into her son’s life.
“There was a park that I was told Kraigg would actually take him for walks. I would park there and be there for hours just trying to see if I’d see him. Never seen him,” she mentioned.
“He was about three or four when I actually started working with Kraigg’s brother-in-law, and they were gonna actually arrange it where I’d go over to their house, and Kraigg and my son would be there also. They never showed. That was the last opportunity that I had,” she continued.
The primary place he was residing at, he wouldn’t permit me to see him. Then he moved, and he didn’t inform me the place he moved to.
Tracy Vallerand
She mentioned when her son turned 18, each she and her daughter tried to seek out him on-line.
“High school yearbooks, I know I started there. Nothing in Waterbury, nothing in Wolcott. He wasn’t in it. Then you start getting more social media … MySpace, Facebook, everywhere. No sign of him,” Vallerand mentioned.
“We just thought that he had graduated and started his life,” Tessman mentioned. “I didn’t have any reason to worry because as far as I knew, he was with his parents, living his life. He missed everything that he should have done. Everything. No girlfriends, no concerts, no going to the movies, nothing … all of these things we take for granted, he just got robbed of everything. It’s not right.”
In an arrest warrant, the person mentioned most of his life was spent inside an 8-by-9-foot room for the previous 20 years, with little meals and water.
“Can’t fathom it. Then to have her two daughters in the home as properly,” Vallerand said. “What were they doing? Were they waiting for him to actually die? What were they gonna do then?”
“What she did is sub-human. You can’t get away with that,” Tessman mentioned.
Going ahead, they plan to attend each courtroom listening to of Sullivan’s.
“I’m gonna be there for my son,” Vallerand mentioned.
“I’m gonna be there for my brother,” Tessman said. “Stare daggers through her skull.”
They have not but met their son and brother, however hope to sooner or later.
“He’s in a very delicate stage right now,” Vallerand mentioned.
“If he reaches out, completely, however it’s not about us, it’s about him and his restoration, so if he needs both of us, each of us, neither of us, it’s as much as him not us,” Tessman mentioned.
“I’ll be stunned if he trusts anyone ever,” Vallerand mentioned.
