Harrowing Bodycam Footage Shows Woman’s Reaction as Her Alleged Victim Escapes After 20 Years in Captivity: Watch

Newly released bodycam footage shows the moment a woman was rescued from a house fire in Connecticut alongside her stepson, who she is accused of holding captive for 20 years.

Kimberly Sullivan, who lived in the house with her stepson, is seen calling out to the victim from outside the property as a Waterbury firefighter approaches her in the footage released by WFSB Connecticut News of the Feb. 17 incident.

“…Come down! We have to get stuff out! Come down,” Sullivan, 56, is heard shouting while holding her pet dog.

The firefighter then asks Sullivan who else is in the house, as she responds, “My stepson is in here. I’m trying to have him help him out. I have two cats…”

“Everybody’s out?” The firefighter asks her. “Yes, but he’s right here,” referring to the victim.

The firefighter then urges Sullivan to “come down the road” to safety. “Alright, here he is,” she says about the victim. “… My dog was shaking.” Sullivan is then ushered over to a spot further away from the house.

Her stepson is carried out of the house by first responders and taken away in an ambulance.

Sullivan, from the other side of the road, is heard shouting, “Stop! What are you doing?” The firefighter then tells her, “You need to stay over here.”

Sullivan is accused of holding her stepson captive since age 11, according to the Waterbury Police Department. She was arrested and charged with assault in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment in the first degree on March 12. Sullivan was released on $300,000 bail on Thursday, March 13.

According to the arrest warrant obtained by PEOPLE, the victim told law enforcement he set fire to his bedroom using a lighter, hand sanitizer and paper in an attempt to regain his “freedom.” He weighed just 68 lbs at the hospital after being rescued.

Per the warrant, the victim alleged to detectives that he had been held captive by Sullivan for 20 years, after being removed from school in fourth grade. He also alleged that his treatment worsened after his father, Kregg Sullivan, died in 2024.

Sullivan’s lawyer, Ioannis A. Kaloidis, previously told PEOPLE that it was his client’s late husband who “was in control” of all decisions regarding his son’s care. He also alleged that Sullivan never locked her stepson in his room or stopped him from showering.

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“My client encouraged him to bathe but she is not going to force a 32-year-old man to take care of himself,” Kaloidis said. “He could have just walked away then if he wanted to leave.”

“Ultimately it was the father which dictated the manner in which his son was raised and my client was only carrying out his orders,” he added.

Sullivan is due back in court on March 26 to answer to her felony charges.