The “traumatized” biological mother of the emaciated man allegedly held captive by his stepmother in Connecticut for 20 years claimed her son “has never been forgotten.”
“We are all trying to come to grips with this horror that my son had to endure,” the 52-year-old resident of Meriden, Connecticut, told The Post Saturday, adding that “…proper feelings … are just too hard to take in right now. And this is also including the father’s side of the family.“
The mom, who came outside her home wearing a gray hoodie and spoke briefly to nearby workers who were removing neighborhood Christmas lights, did not answer directly when asked why she had not saved her son.
“He has family who love him so much and has never been forgotten about,” the mother said, asking that her name be withheld because she is “traumatized.”
“He should have never been put through this horror. We wish our privacy at this time to start the healing process for everyone.”
“This is a very difficult time for ALL of his family and we need time to start the healing,” she later added. “My son is the biggest thing!! We need to make sure that his healing is as best as it can be!!!”
The victim, now 32, weighed just 68 pounds when he was rescued last month from his family’s Waterbury home — where he had apparently set a fire in a desperate bid to escape the alleged abuse, he told police.
It’s unclear how many people knew about the man’s apparent plight.
His parents were married in 1992, but by January 1995 the couple had split and dad Kregg had remarried to a woman named Kimberly Sullivan. Kregg died in January 2024.
The victim was pulled out of elementary school when teachers and the principal noticed that he was starving and always looking for food, with the former principal of Barnard Elementary School claiming educators alerted the state to apparent serious abuse within the family as early as 2005 — after the boy was found stealing food and eating from the garbage.
An uncle, Kurt Sullivan, 55, said he was unable to see his nephew for around 20 years, after his sister-in-law reportedly pushed him and other relatives away for asking too many questions.
“I was shocked, he looks like a Holocaust survivor,” Kurt Sullivan, 55, told police after seeing his nephew in the hospital, according to an affidavit.
The victim’s two younger sisters work nearby. One of the siblings reportedly lived with her parents for a time in the Waterbury home. They could not be reached for comment.
The victim was allegedly locked in 9-by-8-foot storage space and starved for years — and sometimes had to drink from a toilet and eat from a garbage can to survive, according to court documents.
After Kregg’s death, his captivity grew more restrictive and he was locked in his room 22 to 24 hours a day, the victim claimed to authorities.
Kimberly Sullivan, 56, was arrested but later released on $300,000 bond.
Newly released bodycam footage of the moment first responders arrived at the burning home Feb. 17 showed Kimberly Sullivan standing outside, clutching one of her dogs.
As firefighters carried the victim’s limp body out of the home, Sullivan is heard in the footage voicing concern for her pup.
“My dog is shaking,” she said before shouting at the firefighter carrying her stepson, “what are you doing?”
Her attorney Ioannis Kaloidis told The Post Saturday that he believed family members had helped pay the bond. He declined to disclose his client’s current whereabouts.
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