A Connecticut woman was arrested on Wednesday (March 12) after her stepson started a house fire to escape decades of inhumane conditions.
Kimberly Sullivan is accused of holding her 32-year-old stepson captive since he was 11, the Waterbury Police Department said in a statement.
The victim, whose name has not been made public, was found "in a severely emaciated condition and had not received medical or dental care" while living with his stepmother, police said.
Highlights
- A man escaped captivity after 20 years by starting a house fire.
- The victim weighed only 68 pounds (30 kg) and lacked medical care.
- His stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, has been arrested.
Image credits: Waterbury Police Department
According to a warrant obtained by WFSB-TV 3, the 32-year-old man weighed only 68 pounds (approx. 30 kg) when he escaped.
He was pulled from school when he was 9 or 10 years old and told police he had no contact with anyone outside of his home.
The 56-year-old stepmother was charged with assault in the first degree, k*dnapping in the second degree, unlawful restraint in the first degree, cruelty to persons, and reckless endangerment in the first degree.
"The facts of this case, quite frankly, the facts are something out of a horror movie. That's without exaggeration," said Supervisory Assistant State's Attorney Don Therkildsen, as reported by the CT Post.
The victim escaped by starting a house fire and being rescued by firefighters
Image credits: FOX 61
“Years in law enforcement [and] this is the worst treatment of humanity that I’ve ever witnessed,” said Chief Fernando Spagnolo of the Waterbury police.
The Waterbury Fire Department helped put the flames out in Sullivan's home on February 17. Sullivan fled the residence, and her stepson was later pulled out by firefighters before he received treatment for smoke inhalation and exposure to flames.
After starting the fire, he reportedly fell to the ground and stayed there so firefighters would rescue him, believing it "was his only way out of his situation," the warrant states.
The victim told first responders that he had intentionally set fire to his upstairs room, saying, "I wanted my freedom."
Image credits: NBC News
An investigation concluded that he "had been held in captivity for over 20 years, enduring prolonged ab*se, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment."
The inhumane conditions he endured worsened after his father passed away last year, he said.
According to the warrant, the victim lit a fire using hand sanitizer, paper from a printer, and a lighter that he found in the pocket of one of his late father's jackets. He started the blaze while locked in a cramped storage space where he was forced to sleep.
"He lit that fire very well knowing he could d*e, but he had been locked in the room for 20 years, and for 20 years, he'd been trying to get out of that room," prosecutors said during the arraignment on Wednesday, as per WFSB-TV 3.
He endured starvation, neglect, and inhumane treatment
Image credits: FOX 61
The man told police that the threat of losing the minimal food he was given and longer lockdowns kept him from trying to escape.
He said he would be given only two cups of water a day and was sometimes forced to drink out of the toilet to quench his thirst. Inside the house, he was only allowed outside to do chores for Sullivan.
When he was at school, he would ask others for their food, steal food, and sometimes eat food out of the garbage. This resulted in DCF (Department of Children and Families) responding to the home on two occasions, the stepmother's criminal complaint states.
Sullivan allegedly instructed the then-fourth-grader to lie to authorities and say that "everything was fine."
Image credits: FOX 61
Shortly after the DCF visits, Sullivan removed her stepson from school.
Tom Pannone, who was the victim's principal at Barnard Elementary School two decades ago, told NBC Connecticut he "knew something was grossly wrong" when the malnourished boy was discovered stealing food, adding that "everyone was concerned since he was 5 years old."
"We knew it. We reported it. Not a d**n thing was done. That's the tragedy of the whole thing," Pannone said.
He shared that the school made at least 20 calls to the DCF and to the child's stepmother before he was removed from the institution.
The man was found in severely emaciated condition, weighing only 68 pounds (approx. 30 kg)
Image credits: WFSB 3
Pannone said he was told the victim had been enrolled in nearby Wolcott Public Schools and also said that at one point the boy was homeschooled.
Neighbors either had no idea the stepson existed or recalled seeing him only a few times many years ago. One of them, Paulina Depina, said she lived next door to the Sullivan home on Blake Street from 2003 to 2009 and saw the victim outside only three times.
Sullivan was charged with assault, unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons, and reckless endangerment
Image credits: NEWS CENTER Maine
According to the arrest warrant, the victim has received treatment at a medical facility.
He told police that only his stepmother, his now-deceased father, two half-sisters, and his deceased grandmother knew of his captivity.
The victim had been isolated and lacked contact with the outside world, being pulled from school in fourth grade
Image credits: CBS19
Sullivan denies any wrongdoing. Her attorney, Ioannis A. Kaloidis, said the stepmother was "blown away" when she heard the allegations.
"She's adamant they are not true," Kaloidis said. "This did not happen, and we look forward to being able to vindicate her and show that she's done nothing wrong.
"These allegations seemed to be based on the words of one individual and one individual alone."
Police said Sullivan's bond was set at $300,000, and she will be placed in the custody of the Connecticut Department of Corrections.
"I hope she goes to jail and gets what she deserves," a Facebook user wrote
