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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA man says his stepmom locked him in a room for decades. He escaped by setting a fire
After firefighters responded to a fire at a Connecticut home last month, one of its occupants revealed that they hadn't only rescued him from the burning house but from two decades of captivity.
The 32-year-old man, who has not been publicly named, is accusing his stepmother of keeping him locked inside a room in their Waterbury home with minimal food and water, and no access to medical care, dental care or a bathroom from the time he was approximately 11 years old.
Later, while receiving medical treatment, he told authorities that he had used hand sanitizer, printer paper and a lighter to set the fire in his upstairs bedroom to escape.
"I wanted my freedom," he told first responders, according to the Waterbury Police Department.
Waterbury police announced Wednesday that an investigation by their major crimes unit, in collaboration with the Waterbury State's Attorney's Office, determined that the victim "had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment."
"The suffering this victim endured for over 20 years is both heartbreaking and unimaginable," Waterbury Police Chief Fernando Spagnolo said in a statement, crediting law enforcement with making sure "the perpetrator is held fully accountable for these horrific crimes."
Police said they arrested the man's stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, on Wednesday on charges of assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons and reckless endangerment.
(snip)
Sullivan's stepson was rescued from the Feb. 17 blaze "in a severely emaciated condition," according to police.
Medical records show he weighed just 68.7 pounds, which, at his height of 5 feet 9 inches, is considered life-threatening, according to a police affidavit and arrest warrant that was filed in state superior court and obtained by NPR.
https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327122/connecticut-captive-stepmom-house-fire
Go to the story and look at the picture. You will note that the hypocrite perp is wearing a large cross. Of course.

TheProle
(3,291 posts)malaise
(281,860 posts)Rec
UpInArms
(52,289 posts)After visiting his nephew in the hospital, he said, "he looks like a Holocaust survivor."
underpants
(189,320 posts)Even if this were true, theres no reason to do it.
The guy sounds very resourceful. God living through that.
Sullivan's lawyer, Kaloidis, told reporters outside of the courthouse on Wednesday that the man's biological father was "the one that dictated how his son would be raised."
malaise
(281,860 posts)What was his role in this abuse for all these years.
Still he sure took a long time to escape.
https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-03-13/worst-treatment-of-humanity-police-release-new-details-in-waterbury-captive-stepson-case
Jilly_in_VA
(11,706 posts)probably abused too by this horrible woman.
Horrific - made me cry
GreenWave
(10,642 posts)Police had conducted a welfare check in 2005 on the request of the state Department of Children and Families, Spagnolo said.
Sounds like they didn't ask. "Where is he? How is he?" follow ups...
Medical records show he weighed just 68.7 pounds, which, at his height of 5 feet 9 inches, is considered life-threatening
I suspect they will blame the deceased father for this.
Jilly_in_VA
(11,706 posts)when he was pulled out. There is little to no supervision of so-called "homeschooling" families. The school called DFS several times and they did what they legally could, apparently. (Anybody here with one of those departments that could answer?) The defendant's lawyer is already blaming the father but he's been dead for several years and was wheelchair bound for several years before that; may have been abused himself before that. What I don't understand is why they half-sisters, who are now adults, or the uncle, didn't report something.