WATERBURY — The biological mother of the man who says he was held captive for 20 years came forward Wednesday to blast the alleged wicked step-mother who is charged with abusing her son.

Tracy Vallerand also tried to explain why she gave up the boy shortly after he was born.

“I don’t hate people at all,” Vallerand said of Kimberly Sullivan. “This one, I hate.”

Sullivan, 56, had a brief hearing that ended before she could even enter a plea on the cruelty and kidnapping charges she faces. She is out on $300,000 bail after she was accused of forcing her step-son to live in a tiny 8-foot-by-9-foot room that was locked from the outside.

Sullivan rushed into a waiting car as her two daughters, the victim’s half-sisters, broke toward another vehicle.

Vallerand, 52, was in court with her own daughter, Heather Tessman.

She told reporters that she gave up her son when he was just 6 months old and left his father Kraigg Sullivan to raise him with his new wife Kimberly.

“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 said, according to NBC Connecticut.

“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 said.

Vallerand said she tried to find her son after he turned 18, but he has no social media. By then, cops said, he had been held in captivity for at least seven years — having allegedly been pulled out of school and confined inside at age 11.

“Can’t fathom it. Then to have her two daughters in the house as well,” she said. “What were they doing? Were they waiting for him to actually die? What were they gonna do then?” Vallerand said.

“What she did is sub-human. You can’t get away with that,” said the victim’s half-sister, Tessman.

After the hearing, Sullivan’s attorney Ioannis A. Kaloidis said that the proceedings had been continued to Friday because the state wants to put her under electronic monitoring.

When asked why Sullivan is shocked by the allegations — even though her adult stepson allegedly hadn’t been seen in 20 years and weighed just 68 pounds when authorities found him — Kaloidis said it’s the state’s job to prove his client actually committed the crimes.

“The great thing about this system is we don’t have to explain it,” Kaloidis said “The state has made allegations. The state has to prove those allegations in court. Those allegations are serious, but those allegations are made by one person.”

“I understand the whole world has jumped on those allegations and has already convicted my client,” he continued. “The good thing about America is that that’s not how we work. She’s presumed innocent until proven otherwise in court.

“Right now, they’re just allegations,” he said. “I’m sorry that she’s been convicted worldwide and everyone wants to proceed to a lynching, but we have a system. She has rights.”

Summary: Karaban projects as a deep-range sniper, though his shot fell off this past year with UConn. If he’s able to return to his previous form, he mixes in savvy cuts, some post scoring, and glue-guy defense that makes him more than just a shooting role player.

Comparisons: Ryan Anderson

Strengths

Spot-up shooting: Knockdown shooter who can do more than just hit standstill jumpers. He relocates and is a willing screener who can pick-and-pop for 3s. This season, UConn utilized him using more screens and handoffs. A more complicated shooting diet contributed to his lower 3-point percentage, though he still had success and showed a potential for hitting movement 3s.

Does the little things: Smart player with a feel for cutting to the rim and making the extra pass. In spot-up situations, he has a functional handle to aggressively attack closeouts. Even against a switching defense, he has the size and post-scoring ability to beat a small guard with hook shots using either hand and backdowns. So even though he isn’t a primary creator it’s not like defenses can hide an undersized defender on him.

Defense: Karaban is a solid defender who tends to be in the right position and competes on the boards. He’s a high-effort player whether or not his shot is falling.

Concerns

Athleticism: Lacks elite athleticism, which limits his defensive upside, and he’s mostly a below-the-rim finisher.

Shooting form: He’s right-handed but brings the ball to his left side, and releases it low. His shooting numbers also dipped this season with more defensive attention being directed his way. And though he had success shooting off the dribble, it came on a small sample.

A road rage shooting and a wrong-way driver caught on dashcam video. Those are just some of the latest incidents getting attention on our highways in Connecticut.

“This is my car wash and I’m seeing now it’s all taped off. I’m like ‘what the hell is going on?’” Raynette Woodard, of Hartford, said.

Customers at a gas station on Weston Street in Hartford were in disbelief, with a bullet hole clearly visible on a black SUV’s window.

State police said a road rage shooting on I-91 in Windsor left a person injured, but expected to be OK. Two people were arrested.

People say it’s yet another instance of bad behavior on Connecticut highways.

“Why is everybody in such a rush? Why is everybody, don’t respect the law of the land?” Woodard said.

In Montville, state police arrested a woman speeding the wrong way on I-395 over the weekend and almost hitting two vehicles. Troopers stopped her by ramming their cruisers into her car as it entered their parking lot.

She now faces a number of charges, including driving under the influence.

“It’s really scary. I can’t even imagine,” Adam Gould, who was driving from Michigan, said.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation has been working to make our roads safer and say there’s been a decline in wrong-way fatal highway crashes since 2022, when it was a high of 13 crashes causing 23 deaths.

Last year, it went down to six crashes and 13 deaths. The agency credits wrong-way detection systems on highway on-ramps for getting the number down with more than 300 activations over the last year – getting drivers to turn around.

“That’s at least 300 lives saved, potentially saved, because we know when these crashes happen, they’re happening at a high rate of speed,” Josh Morgan, with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said.

For drivers, they just want to see people be more responsible on the road without being impaired or distracted.

“Be careful. Be smart. It’s not worth whatever that text is. It’s not worth anyone’s life,” Gould said.

The DOT said if you do see a wrong-way driver, move over to the far-right lane and call police in a safe area.

As to what could be leading to more aggressive driving, state police say it could be a number of things like more traffic, conflict from other areas of our lives, or even a sense that our vehicles have become safer.