A 32-year-old emaciated man, weighing just 68 pounds at 5-foot-9, was allegedly held captive by his stepmother in a Waterbury residence in conditions described by police as worse than a jail cell since he was pulled out of school 20 years ago after school officials allegedly began raising red flags to the Department of Children and Families.
The man was allegedly kept isolated and locked in an 8-foot by 9-foot storage room without any heat or air conditioning and no connection to the outside world aside from a radio he used to keep track of time, according to the arrest warrant affidavit charging 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan with first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree unlawful restraint, cruelty to persons and first-degree reckless endangerment.
The man told investigators that he would be let out anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours nearly every single day of his life once he was yanked from school and endured some days when he would be locked up for 24 hours with only two sandwiches and two small cups or bottles of water, the warrant affidavit said.
He also told investigators that he was discouraged from trying to break free from captivity through fear tactics that included the constant threat of longer lockdowns and less food, according to the warrant affidavit. The horrific conditions the man was allegedly kept in were discovered on Feb. 17, when he spontaneously decided to use a lighter he found in an old coat as well as hand sanitizer and paper to start a fire that brought firefighters, police and medics to the residence, the warrant affidavit said.
“I wanted my freedom,” the man told investigators.
“In 33 years of law enforcement this is the worst treatment of humanity I’ve ever witnessed,” Waterbury Police Chief Fernando C. Spagnolo said at a news conference on Thursday as officials discussed the investigation.
“It was worse than the conditions of a jail cell,” Spagnolo said of the locked room, made smaller by angled ceilings, where the victim was reportedly kept.
According to Spagnolo, Waterbury police could only find two documented incidents when police were called to the home, which occurred in April 2005. During the first incident, police conducted a welfare check on the alleged victim. According to the warrant affidavit, DCF had been contacted by staff at the victim’s school. Spagnolo said officials found the boy in the home and did not notice any issues.
During the second incident, a little more than two weeks later, Spagnolo said police received a complaint from the family, who alleged that school officials were harassing them and reporting them to DCF. No police action was taken, as the harassment allegations were not substantiated, according to Spagnolo.
Tom Pannone, the former principal of an elementary school in Waterbury that has since closed, told NBC Connecticut that school officials raised several concerns about the boy and contacted DCF numerous times. He alleged that school staff would see him eating out of the trash and stealing food, noticing that he was constantly hungry.
“We knew it. We reported it. Not a damn thing was done,” Pannone said, alleging that they contacted DCF “at least 20 times.”
Pannone said he never saw the victim again after the fourth grade and that he heard from one person that the child was transferred to another school district and from another that the boy was being homeschooled.
The alleged victim told investigators he was pulled from school at 11 years old after being told to lie to DCF and say everything was fine, the warrant affidavit said.
DCF Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly said in a statement Thursday that investigators with the agency have “looked extensively at our current and historical databases and, to date, have been unable to locate any records pertaining to this family nor any records connected to the names of others who have indicated they made reports to our department.
“In accordance with state regulation, it should also be noted that reports of neglect and abuse that have been investigated and not substantiated are expunged five years after completion of the investigation provided there are no other substantiated reports,” Hill-Lilly said. “We will continue our search and ask anyone with additional information to contact the Waterbury Police Department.”
Hill-Lilly went on to say the agency was “shocked and saddened for the victim and at the unspeakable conditions he endured.”
“The now-adult victim has shown incredible strength and resilience during this time of healing and our hearts go out to him,” she said. “These horrors serve as a reminder that it takes the diligent efforts of all members of the community — family, friends, neighbors, and professionals — to protect children from abuse and neglect.”
Sullivan’s attorney, Jason Spilka, told the Courant his client “maintains her innocence” and that her lawyers intend to launch an “aggressive defense” against the allegations. Spilka said he could not address or answer questions about specific allegations, as he still needs to review much of the evidence and has only reviewed the warrant drafted by police so far.
According to the warrant affidavit, the alleged victim told authorities that he stomped for help after lighting the fire and told Sullivan that it started when his radio malfunctioned. He told police she allegedly made him get up and go wash his face after he collapsed to the floor, as she did not want firefighters to see his appearance, the warrant affidavit said. He also alleged that he heard her yell out to get a screwdriver to take the locks off the outside of his door, according to the warrant affidavit.
The man told authorities he collapsed again and purposely remained put so that fire crews would have to help him out of the home, the warrant affidavit said. He was treated for smoke inhalation and taken to a medical facility, where he received treatment for his emaciated condition.
Sullivan at the scene allegedly told officials the man “has a lot of problems” but was not diagnosed with anything, the warrant affidavit said. She denied that he was ever locked in his room and said he had “free reign of the house,” according to the warrant affidavit. Crews at the scene found a slide lock and latch on the door to the room where the man said he was kept.
Spagnolo said Sullivan refused to talk to investigators when they wanted to conduct a follow-up interview to discuss the allegations.
Police conducted two interviews with the alleged victim at the hospital where he described a “life of captivity, abuse and starvation,” investigators wrote in the warrant. His earliest memories go back to when his family lived at another residence where he said he would have to sneak out to get food at night. When the wrappers from the food were discovered, he alleged that he began being locked in his bedroom. He also alleged that he had to drink from a toilet because he was only given two cups or bottles of water a day.
Once the family moved, the man told police, he remembered being hungry all the time, leading to him eating food from the garbage at school, the warrant affidavit said. He said he was pulled from school in 2005 when DCF visited his home twice after school officials raised concerns, according to the warrant affidavit. After that, he said he essentially had to educate himself with a dictionary and some books and was never taught anything.
After initially being kept in a bedroom, the man claimed that at some point in his childhood, he was moved to a storage room where his captivity allegedly became “brutally consistent,” the warrant affidavit said. He said he would normally wake up between 3-4:30 a.m., as he did not sleep well, and would only allegedly be let out of his room around 8 a.m. to complete his chores, according to the warrant affidavit. He alleged that his tasks would take anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours and that he would be locked back in his room once he was done.
The man claimed that the routine occurred “nearly every day” but that there were times when he would be locked up for 24 hours straight, according to the warrant affidavit. Another person in the home would sometimes allow him to watch TV or do work in the yard, but that was allegedly only when Sullivan was not home, the warrant affidavit said.
According to Spagnolo, the man’s father died in January 2024 and had been confined to a wheelchair. His biological mother has not been involved in his life since he was about 2 years old, Spagnolo said. Two other people who had been “in and out” of the home moved out some time ago, he said.
When asked why he never confided in anyone, the man told police he was mentally conditioned by Sullivan, who allegedly threatened that he “would not see the light of day” if he told anyone, according to the warrant affidavit. He said he also was not allowed to have any friends and faced the constant threat of longer periods of being locked up and less food. He also told police he discovered a gun one day while cleaning, which made him even more fearful.
“It’s just unfathomable that someone could treat someone this way,” Waterbury Mayor Paul K. Pernerewski Jr. said at Thursday’s news conference, adding that the alleged victim was reportedly “kept a secret” through tactics that included instilling “fear and intimidation.”
The man told authorities he was allegedly forced to urinate in bottles and defecate on newspapers, which he would then wrap up and throw away when he was allowed to come out to do his chores, the warrant affidavit said. To drain the bottles, he said he put together a series of straws that he ran out a hole in the storm window of his room, which did not open, the warrant affidavit said.
The man told police at the hospital that he had not bathed for a year or two, according to the warrant affidavit. He alleged that he would save some of the little water he was given each day until there was enough to try to clean himself.
Police noted in the warrant that the man’s hair was long, thick and matted.
The man said he had not been to a doctor in quite a long time and that he was not allowed to see a dentist, the warrant affidavit said. Police found that he had severe tooth decay, which he said led to his teeth breaking at times when he ate.
At the hospital, medical staff diagnosed the man as cachectic — which is also referred to as “wasting syndrome” — and was described as someone who had significant weight loss and deteriorated muscle mass, the warrant affidavit said. His body mass index was found to be 11. Medical staff told police any index under 16 is considered starvation and anything under 13 is life-threatening.
He was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, according to the warrant affidavit. The victim was also found to be developmentally delayed with an adolescent cognitive level, the warrant affidavit said. He was not able to use something as simple as a microwave and had difficulties problem-solving, multitasking and sequencing, according to the warrant affidavit.
Sullivan was taken into police custody on Wednesday, a day after police obtained an arrest warrant for her. During an arraignment in Waterbury Superior Court later in the day, a judge ordered that she could only post her $300,000 bond at the courthouse.
Spilka said Sullivan appeared in court again on Thursday where a judge set the conditions of her release before she posted bail. These included intensive pretrial supervision, he said. The case has been continued to March 26.
Sullivan has not entered a plea.
Spagnolo said Thursday that the investigation remains ongoing, though at this point authorities are not looking to bring charges against anyone else. He said two lead detectives started a collection to get the victim clothing, books and other items but that he still has a long road ahead of physical therapy and likely counseling.
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