For 14 years, Heather Tessman had looked for her half-brother, whom she'd last seen as a young child in the 1990s, yet nothing turned up in internet and public records searches beyond the fact he'd been born.
Just weeks ago, she — and the world — finally learned his story: He was the 32-year-old emaciated man rescued from a Connecticut house fire in February who told police he had been held for the past two decades.
Tessman, who turns 35 on Thursday, was stunned but excited he was found. But she said police have not allowed her or her mother, who gave up custody of her son when he was an infant, to visit him as he recovers at an undisclosed location, because of the ongoing investigation.
Outside a courthouse in Waterbury, Connecticut, on Wednesday, Tessman was asked by reporters what she would say to him.
“I would say that ‘I love you and I just want to be here for you,’" she said. “And I have a bunch of books that I think that I would love to let you borrow, movies, video games, whatever.â€
The man's stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, has been charged with kidnapping, felony assault, cruelty to persons and other crimes. She made a brief appearance in the courthouse Wednesday and is scheduled to return Friday, when her lawyer says she will enter not guilty pleas. Sullivan, who is free on bail, .
“I understand the whole world has jumped on those allegations and has already convicted my client,†Sullivan’s lawyer, Ioannis Kaloidis, told reporters. “But the good thing about America is that’s not how we work. She’s presumed innocent until proven otherwise in court.â€
The man, who police have not named, told authorities that he set fire to his Waterbury home on Feb. 17 in an attempt to win his freedom. Firefighters pulled him from the house. At a hospital, medical staff said he was suffering from severe malnutrition. He was 5-feet-9-inches tall (1.75 meters tall) and weighed only 69 pounds (31 kilograms).
He said he had been locked in a small room with no heat or air conditioning for most of every day since he was about 11 years old. He said he was only let out for a short periods to do chores. His father, Kregg Sullivan, had let him out of the room for longer, but he died last year, according to a warrant for Kimberly Sullivan's arrest.
He said he was hungry all the time and his food and water were limited. He was unenrolled from Waterbury's public school system in 2004 after educators contacted child welfare officials with concerns about his well-being, police said. He apparently was going to be home-schooled.
Officials from the state Department of Children and Families and Waterbury police visited the home around 2004 and 2005. Police said they saw no cause for concern at the time. The man alleged that he couldn't tell anyone about his plight because Sullivan threatened him with longer confinement and even less food.
Tessman and her mother, Tracy Vallerand, believe Kregg and Kimberly Sullivan as well as state and local officials failed him, and they want justice.
Tessman called Kimberly Sullivan a “monster†and said she didn't believe Sullivan's statements that she did nothing wrong.
“I think that the world is shocked by his condition," Tessman said. "Like, how can you not realize that someone is so frail and malnourished and just mistreated in your own home? That’s just, I don’t buy it.â€
Officials with the Department of Children and Families said Wednesday they are still looking for any records on the man. They have said reports of neglect or abuse deemed unsubstantiated are erased five years after investigations are complete.
Waterbury school officials say they too are looking for records. State lawmakers, meanwhile, are calling for answers on how this could have happened, while advocacy groups are questioning whether more oversight is needed for home schooling in Connecticut.
Vallerand said she hasn't seen her son since since he was 6 months old when she gave up custody, which she said she thought at the time was in his best interest. She said Kregg Sullivan would not let her see her son, and she had looked for him with Tessman.
“I was heartbroken, angry, there’s just so many emotions,†Vallerand said about learning what happened to her son. “You don’t think of this happening to anybody, let alone your own child.â€
