Woman allegedly held stepson captive for over 20 years

A Connecticut woman was arrested Wednesday after police said she held her stepson captive for more than 20 years, an imprisonment that only ended when the man lit a fire to draw the attention of authorities.

On Feb. 17, crews responded to a fire at a home in Waterbury, Connecticut, KTLA sister station WTNH reports. Two people, 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan and a 32-year-old man later identified as her stepson, were inside the home at the time. Sullivan was able to evacuate safely, and the man was helped out by firefighters.

According to Waterbury police, while being evaluated by EMS for smoke inhalation, the man told first responders that he set the fire on purpose in his upstairs room using a lighter, hand sanitizer and paper because he “wanted his freedom.” He said Sullivan had held him captive since he was 11 years old, and when he was found, officials said he weighed only 68 pounds.

The man was taken to a hospital, where his condition worsened and he was listed in critical condition due to smoke inhalation.

Detectives later determined that the man had been held captive for over 20 years and that he had been inhumanly treated, enduring “abuse, starvation, severe neglect,” police said.

He had been given “minimal” food and water and was in a “severely emaciated condition,” police said, adding that he had not received any medical or dental care for years.

When he was found, his teeth appeared to be rotten and his hair was “‘very dirty’ and matted,” the Washington Post reported, citing police.

Detectives at the scene of the fire questioned Sullivan, who was in a car with her daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend. According to an affidavit, Sullivan said she had taken the victim to a psychiatrist in the past and that he was not locked in his room. During the investigation, the detective found that the door to the victim’s room had a slide lock on the outside.

Detectives tried to contact Sullivan during the early parts of the investigation, but she allegedly refused and said she had spoken with an attorney and would not speak with police.

During interviewing, the man detailed a life of abuse, saying that at first, he was locked in his room only at night. He recalled drinking water from the toilet because he only received two glasses of water per day.

He said he was pulled out of school after the school called the Department of Children and Families twice after he kept asking students for their food during lunchtime because he was allegedly being starved at home, the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, the room the victim was living in was an 8-by-9-foot back storage area in the home. He said the room had no air conditioning in the summer and no heating in the winter.

“It was worse than the conditions of a jail cell,” Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said, as reported by the Post.

The stepson said that eventually, he was only let out of the room for about one to two hours per day, usually to do chores. He claimed he had no toilet access after a time and was left to urinate in bottles and defecate onto a paper and dispose of it in the garbage when he was let out to do chores.

His only connection to the outside world, according to the affidavit, was a radio kept outside his bedroom, where he would listen to local radio stations and use that as a way to keep track of the date and year. He educated himself by using a dictionary and reading the three books per year he was permitted to have.

On the day he set the fire, the man claimed Sullivan had told him to wash his face so firefighters would not see his appearance and yelled for others to help her get the locks off the door.

Sullivan was charged with:

• Assault in the first degree
• Kidnapping in the second degree
• Unlawful restraint in the first degree
• Cruelty to Pprsons
• Reckless endangerment in the first degree

Sullivan’s lawyer said this isn’t the full story.

“He was not locked in the room, she did not restrain him in any way, she provided food, she provided shelter,” Ioannis Kaloidis, a Waterbury attorney, said. “She is blown away by these allegations.”

Kaloidis said the man’s biological father lived there until recently.

“He was the biological father. He was the one who dictated how his son would be raised. We think as the evidence comes out, you will see that she is not the villain she’s made out to be,” Kaloidis said.

Sullivan was arraigned and her bond was set at $300,000. She will be held in custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections.