Connecticut
Biological mom of Connecticut House of Horrors victim comes forward as alleged wicked step mother appears in court
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.”
Connecticut
Cooler Monday ahead of snow chance on Tuesday
Slightly less breezy tonight with winds gusting between 15-25 mph by the morning.
Wind chills will be in the 10s by Monday morning as temperatures tonight cool into the 20s.
Monday will see sunshine and highs in the 30s with calmer winds.
Snow is likely for much of the state on Tuesday, with some rain mixing in over southern Connecticut.
1-3″ should accumulate across much of the state. Lesser totals are expected at the shoreline.

Christmas Eve on Wednesday will be dry with sunshine and temperatures in the upper 30s and lower 40s.
Connecticut
Ten adults and one dog displaced after Bridgeport fire
Ten adults and one dog are displaced after a fire at the 1100 block of Pembroke Street in Bridgeport.
The Bridgeport Fire Department responded to a report of heavy smoke from the third floor at around 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Firefighters located the fire and quickly extinguished it.
There are no reports of injuries.
The American Red Cross is currently working to help those who were displaced.
The Fire Marshal’s Office is still investigating the incident.
Connecticut
Woman suffers life threatening injuries in Rocky Hill house fire
A woman was rushed to the hospital after being seriously hurt in a fire Saturday in Rocky Hill.
This all unfolded during the late morning hours at a home on Main Street.
Fire officials say they had to rescue the woman from the home and her injuries are considered life threatening.
Hoarding conditions did a play a factor in the fire, according to the fire department.
No other injuries were reported. Further details pertaining to the fire weren’t immediately available.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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